HAROUN AL-RASCHID. CALIPH OF BAGDAD. 763

INTRODUCTION.

THE RISE OF THE CALIPHATE.

THE ancient Empire of Persia was tottering to its fall, the great and holy Roman Empire had well-nigh run its course, when Mohammed, with true prophetic inspiration, or, what is more, with true political instinct foretold to the Arabians that they should inherit the glories of the dying empires, and should themselves, for the same faults, ultimately share their fate.

"Do they not see how many a generation we have destroyed before them, whom we had settled on the earth as we have not settled for you, and sent the rain of heaven on them in copious showers, and made the waters flow beneath them? Then we destroyed them for their sins, and raised up other generations after them." Koran, vi. 6.

I propose, in the following pages, to show what the Mohammedan empire was at the culminating point of its greatness, by sketching the career of the most illustrious of its sovereigns, and the one most familiar to European readers to describe, in short,

the golden prime

Of good Haroun Alraschid.

It will, however, be necessary first to learn, as briefly as possible, in what manner and through what means the Mohammedan power had its rise and origin.

The Arabs, in and before Mohammed's time, were a brave and vigorous race, preserving almost unchanged the habits and mode of life of the patriarchal age. Living in the pure and invigorating air of the desert, far from the turmoil of men and cities; unacquainted with luxury, and possessing in his camels, sheep, and tents all that he absolutely required for his subsistence, the Arab was, and still is, a free, simple, vigorous child of nature. Like all peoples who live in constant communion with nature, poetry was a passion as well as an innate talent with him, and by furnishing him with an easy vehicle for the recording of thoughts and events, by giving him in fact a literature, although an unwritten one, redeemed him from many of the faults of unlettered savagery. "The Arabs' registers are the verses of their bards", says their own proverb, and the number of these which have been preserved afford invaluable materials for the study of their history and character. Their poetry was the natural outcome of their mode of existence, and the very metres and rhythms which they employ breathe the desert air. Just as the Scandinavian poet, in his daily life amidst brawling torrents and dashing cascades, threw his thoughts insensibly into language that flowed in harmony with these voices of nature around him; so the Arab, in the stillness of the desert, thought aloud as he journeyed on, while his thoughts insensibly fell into language whose rhythni was guided by the pace of his camel or himself.

So passionately fond of liberty is the Arab, that he will not brook the trammels of government or even of society. The individual Bedawi bows to no authority but his own will; and if a tribe acknowledge a Sheikh or elder as its head, it promises no allegiance to him as ruler or lord, but only cedes to him the right of representing it in its dealings with strangers, and gives him the somewhat equivocal privilege of occupying the most exposed part of the camp, and of entertaining all comers at his own expense. A certain strong feeling of clanship among the members of individual tribes, an irrepressible love of plunder and freebooting, leading to constant petty wars and prolonged vendettas, and a superstitious belief in a debased form of Sabaeanism, were the chief characteristics of the people in the midst of whom Mohammed was born.

The requirements of commerce necessitated some general gatherings of the tribes, and the territory of Mecca, where was situated the most honoured shrine of Sabaean worship, was naturally the locality in which they would occur. Accordingly, an annual fair was held at Ocadh, where literary contests also took place; and these, like the Olympic games amongst the Greeks, served to keep alive a certain feeling of national unity among the different tribes. Two results followed from this state of things, which have an important bearing on the success of Mohammed's mission. In the first place, the tribe of the Koreish, from which he sprung, were located on the site of the Ka'abeh, the chief temple of national worship just referred to, and they therefore became the natural guardians of the sacred edifice, and so acquired a kind of prescriptive superiority over other tribes. Secondly, as all the tribes met in the territory of the Koreish to try their respective skill in poetry and oratory, the language of this particular tribe became necessarily the standard dialect, and absorbed into itself many of the idioms and locutions of the rest. Thus we see that local, tribal, and social circumstances were all in favour of the development of any great idea originating with the Koreish.

So far, the picture of the Arab is a bright and favourable one; but there is, unfortunately, a dark side to it. Morally and intellectually, they were in a state of revolting barbarism; the primitive simplicity of Sabseanism, the worship of the Hosts of Heaven, had degenerated into a gloomy and idolatrous polytheism; drunkenness, gambling, divination by arrows, polygamy, murder, and worse vices were terribly rife amongst them.

Amongst their other savage practices, that of burying their female children alive was perhaps the worst. Even at the present day, female children are considered rather a disgrace than a blessing by the Bedawi Arabs, and a father never counts them in enumerating his offspring. Before Mohammed's time, the same dislike existed in a more repulsive form still, and this practice of burying daughters alive, wád al benát, as it was called, was very prevalent. "The best son-in-law is the grave", said one of their own proverbs, and the father was in most cases the murderer. It is narrated of one chief, Othman, that he never shed tears except on one occasion, when his little daughter, whom he was burying alive, wiped the grave-dust from his beard. Against this inhuman practice Mohammed directed all the thunders of his eloquent indignation, and set before their eyes the terrors of the last day, "when the female child that hath been buried alive shall be asked for what crime she was put to death".

The Ka'abeh, their chief sanctuary, contained no fewer than three hundred and fifty idols; amongst them the famous black stone, said to have fallen from heaven, and to have been originally white, though now blackened by the kisses of devout but sinful mortals.

The guardianship of the Ka'abeh and the chieftainship of the Koreish tribe were vested in Abd Menaf, and would in the ordinary course of things have descended to his eldest son, Abd Shenas. His second son Hashim, however, having obtained a victory over an invading Abyssinian army, was promoted to the office, and a deadly rivalry henceforth existed between the two families; from his son Ommaiyeh were descended the Ommiade caliphs of Damascus. Hashim's son, Abd al Muttaleb, had three sons, Abdallah, the father of the Prophet Mohammed; Abbas, the progenitor of the Abbaside caliphs; and Abu Talib, the father of Ali, who married Mohammed's daughter Fatima, from whom sprang the Fatemite and Alawi caliphs, who ruled in Egypt and Africa.

At Mohammed's death, the tribes of Arabia would have relapsed into their former anarchy, had it not been for the wisdom and energy of Omar, one of the staunchest supporters of EI Islam, and a father-in-law of the Prophet. There were four claimants for the Caliphate : Ali, first cousin to Mohammed, and husband of the latter's youngest daughter Fatima; Abu Bekr, father of Mohammed's favourite wife Ayesha; Omar, whom we have just mentioned, father of Hafsa, another of his wives; and Othman, a member of the house of Ommaiyeh. Othman had, however, embraced Islam and married two of the Prophet's daughters, Ali was undoubtedly the lawful successor, but as he had on one occasion mortally offended Ayesha by listening to a charge of incontinence that had been brought against her, she used all her influence to prevent his accession, and the house of Ommaiyeh strenuously supported her opposition. An immediate rupture was avoided by the election of Abu Bekr, at whose death Omar was, by the intrigues of Ayesha, invested with the office of Caliph, and, when Omar died, Othman was elected, as Ali refused to subscribe to the conditions imposed upon him, that he should govern according to the Koran and the "Traditions". Ali's reply is remarkable : he declared his readiness to govern according to the Koran, but would not be bound by the "Traditions of the Elders", as he called them; thus giving contemporaneous evidence that the "Sunna", or " Traditions", are not, as the sect called Sunnis pretend, composed of the personal sayings of Mohammed, but represent the traditional legal wisdom of Arabia, which has received the sanction of Mohammed's name. This is a very important point to bear in mind, as it accounts to a great extent for the antipathy of the Persians to the Sunnite creed. The Koran itself is, indeed, less the invention or conception of Mohammed, than a collection of legends and moral axioms borrowed from desert lore and couched in the language and rhythm of desert eloquence, but adorned with the additional charm of enthusiasm. Had it been merely Mohammed's own invented discourses, bearing only the impress of his personal style, the Koran could never have appealed with so much success to every Arab-speaking race as such a miracle of eloquence that its very beauty is divine; nor would it, as it has done, have formed the recognised standard of literary elegance and grandeur. Ali's reply, then, contained the whole gist of the dispute between Shiah and Sunni. The former will accept the Koran, the legal code of which is vague and incomplete, and which contains only one uncompromising dogma, that of the unity of God, which he can and does refine away. But, on the other hand, he will not acknowledge the Sunna, which hampers him at every step with alien ordinances and with ceremonies foreign to his nature and his national traditions,

Murder of Ali

Othman's first act, on being promoted to the chief command in El Islam, was to fill all the most important posts with members of the House of Ommaiyeh, Moawiyeh, son of Abu Sofyan, being made Governor of Syria. Othman was at length assassinated, and Ali elected, this time unconditionally, to the Caliphate. He at once recalled Moawiyeh, who refused to obey, and, backed by the influence of Ayesha, claimed the Caliphate for himself. A severe contest followed between the armies of Ali and Moawiyeh, in which the former was at first successful. He was, however, compelled by the intrigues of Amrou, the general who had conquered Egypt, to submit his own claims and those of Moawiyeh to arbitration, instead of taking full advantage of his military success. Arrived at Kufa, 12,000 of Ali's followers took offence at the proposed arbitration and deserted, which defection originated the sect of Kharegites or Separatists, "who reject the lawful government established by public consent". Three of these deserters, named Barak, Amrou, and Abdarrahman, planned a conspiracy to assassinate, on one and the same day, Ali, Moawiyeh, and Amrou, whose quarrels they considered had caused all the troubles and dissensions in Islam. Barak went to Damascus, and attacked Moawiyeh in the mosque during the Friday prayers, but without fatal results, Amrou, at the same hour, entered the Mosque of Cairo and slew Karija, whom he mistook for Amrou, the general. Abdarrahman, the third conspirator, repaired to Kufa, where the Caliph was felled to the ground by a sword-cut on the head as he was entering the mosque (A.D. 660). He was buried about five miles from Kufa, and in later times a magnificent mausoleum was erected over the spot, which became the favourite resort of Shiah pilgrims, and the site of the city of Meshed Ali, or "Ali's shrine". On Ali's death, his eldest son Hasan was elected Caliph, but resigned the office to Moawiyeh, on the understanding that he should again succeed at the latter's decease. Moawiyeh, however, had other designs in view, and determined that his own son Yezid should succeed him. At Moawiyeh's instigation, Hasan was foully murdered by his own wife, eight years after his father's death, and Ayesha, the evil genius of Ali's family, herself died some years after, murdered, it is said, by her protegd Moawiyeh. On Moawiyeh's death, his son Yezid succeeded hind without election, and the Ommiade dynasty thus became established on the throne of the Caliphate. Yezid had hardly assumed the office, when the partisans of Ali's family prepared to revolt, and Husain, Ali's surviving son, who was then at Mecca, was secretly invited to Kufa to place himself at the head of the party. Yezid, however, had timely warning of the intended rising, and replaced the then governor of Kufa by the stern and uncompromising Obeidallah, who seized on Muslim, the envoy of Husain, and on Hani, in whose house he had been concealed; and when a crowd collected about the Palace, clamouring for the release of the prisoners, ordered their heads to be struck off and thrown down to the assembled multitude. As Husain himself arrived on the borders of Babylonia, he was met by Harro with a company of horse. This man told him that he had Obeidallah's orders to bring him to Kufa, and on Husain's refusing to accompany him, he allowed him to choose any road that led to Kufa, and retreated his force for the purpose of facilitating the movement. After riding through the night, a horse-man met them, and delivered instructions to Harro that he was to lead Husain into an open and undefended place until the Syrian army came up and surrounded them. The next day Amer arrived with 4000 men from Kufa, and, on Obeidallah's orders, cut off Husain's retreat on the plain of Kerbela by the River Euphrates, surrounded his camp, and demanded his unconditional surrender. His refusal was followed by a murderous attack from the enemy, which Husain and his few followers for some time repelled, but which ended in their complete annihilation.

The great secret of Mohammed's success, and of the rapid military and religious development of Islam, lay in the fact that he, for the first time in their history, banded together the Arab tribes in one confederation, taught them that they possessed a national unity, and made them lay aside their petty feuds and jealousies.

The first four, or orthodox Caliphs, as the Mohammedans call them, though exercising a perfectly absolute authority, never threw aside the simple manners and habits of a desert sheikh. Dressed in a coarse abba, or loose hair-cloth cloak, or wearing a rude sheepskin mantle over his shoulders, and with leathern sandals on his feet, the "Prince of the Faithful" walked unattended about the market-place, and listened to complaints of and criticisms on his rule, and often delivered in rude offensive terms. Their position, as the name Caliph (or, more correctly, Khalifeh) implies, was strictly that of "Successor" to the Prophet, and their functions were therefore ecclesiastical as well as military. Indeed, they used to lead the prayers of the worshippers in person on Fridays in the principal mosque of the capital.

The following anecdote will illustrate the simplicity of their lives and the relations they held towards their followers : On one occasion the Caliph Omar ibn el Khattab had received a present from Yemen of some fine striped cloth, which he distributed amongst his followers. On the next day, when he ascended the pulpit and exhorted the congregation to fight against the infidels, one man rose and said, "I will neither listen nor obey!" "Why not?" asked the Caliph. "Because," said he, "I see you wearing a shirt of that stuff from Yemen, and unless you had taken more than your share, such a tall man as you are would not have found it enough". Omar called upon his son Abdallah to clear him from the unjust suspicion, which he did by telling the congregation that he had himself given a. piece from his own sharp of the cloth to make up the deficiency in his father's portion.

Led by such chiefs, and animated by the intense enthusiasm and religious fervour which Mohammed had inspired, the armies of Islam swept irresistibly over Asia, and the vast empire of the Khosroes fell almost without a struggle. At first, with their iconoclastic instincts and their love of plunder, they brought nothing but ruin and devastation in their train, and the treasures of art and literature were dispersed or destroyed as soon as they fell into their hands. Nor had they at first any better idea of taking advantage of their conquests than the old Arab plan of confiscating the portable property of, and imposing a tax on, the conquered, offering the choice of fslam or death to those who either could not or would not pay it. Soon, however, the exigencies of their widely extended dominions required more settled and elaborate government; the aid of Greeks and Persians was called in to assist the Arab generals and governors, and the desert warriors began gradually to adapt themselves to the civilisation around them. Arts, sciences, and literature began once more to take their former place under the Moslem rule, but we must not forget, as so many historians seem to do, that none of these blessings owe more to the Arabs than the permission to exist. It is solely to Persian and Greek influence that they survived; the simple but barbarous Caliphs, during the first years of the empire, left the whole of the administration of the provinces in native hands to such an extent that, for some time, Greek was the language in which the official acts of the Arab rulers were recorded. Persian artists designed and decorated their mosques and palaces; the gardens of Shiraz, and not the rude rocks of the desert, suggested the beautiful forms of tracery that we are accustomed to call Arabesque; the science and philosophy were all either Indian or Greek. In fact, it was Aryan civilisation, that would not be crushed out by rude invasion; it was history repeating itself, and

"Grascia capta ferum victorem cepit et artes

Tetulit agresti Latio."

Yezid's succession to the Caliphate on the death of his father Moawiyeh was not distasteful to the partisans of Ali's family alone. In Mecca resided Abdallah ibn Zobeir, a man with many claims to the affection and reverence of the faithful. His father, Zobeir, had been one of the earliest converts to Islam, a cousin and intimate friend of the prophet, and a successful general who had mainly contributed to the conquest of Africa, and had almost won Byzantium for the Moslem arms : the son, Abdallah, was born at Medina during Mohammed's sojourn there, and had been nursed by the Prophet himself, with whom he was a great favourite. On the death of Husain, Abdallah was saluted Caliph by the Meccans; Medina followed shortly after, and in a little time all Hejjaz acknowledged his authority. Medina was sacked by the army which Yezid had sent against it, but Mecca still held out, until the death of the Caliph put an end to the siege.

Yezid presented a great contrast to his simple and severe predecessors. During his reign, which lasted only three years and six months, he shocked the Moslem world by his excesses, his open indulgence in wine, and his poetry, in which he ridiculed the most sacred tenets of his faith, and launched into extravagant praises of all that it forbade.

His son Moawiyeh was a mere boy when his father died. In a few months he begged to be relieved of the burden of sovereignty, which he felt to be too great for him, and died (some say poisoned) in retirement shortly afterwards.

Abdallah ibn Zobeir failed to take advantage of the opportunity afforded by Yezid's death, and the chiefs of the house of Ommaiyeh chose Merwan, a friend and favourite of the Caliph Othman, as the successor to the throne. He was murdered by his wife after a short reign of nine months, during which the empire was distracted by the sanguinary conflicts of the rival parties contending for power. Besides the son of Zobeir at Mecca, there were also in the field the partisans of Ali at Kufa and the Kharegites, or Separatists, who had deserted Ali at Siffin. Nor were these the only elements of discord, for a disturbing cause existed in Islam, almost as potent as the racial hatred between the Arabs and the Persians; this was the antagonism between the purely nomadic tribes, who claimed Modhar for their sire and to whom the Korcish, although settled at Mecca, belonged and the more civilised tribes of Yemen. Between these two parties an ancient and irreconcilable feud existed, and although the enthusiasm of religion and the lust of conquest banded them together for a time, their smothered hatred was always ready to burst out into flame. Another fertile source of danger to the empire was the military power with which the governors of provinces were armed, and which often enabled and tempted them to withstand the Caliph's authority. Thus religious fanaticism, racial hatred, tribal feuds, family quarrels, and private ambition were all together threatening to undermine the magnificent structure which the easy victories of Mohammed and his successors had built up.

The Ommiade family had owed its success to the severe virtues and the unflinching courage inherent in the chiefs of the desert; but prosperity, by destroying the necessity for the exercise of these virtues and by efifacing their primitive simplicity, hastened their fall.

Abd el Melik.

Abd el Melik, Merwan's son, who succeeded him, did something to stem the tide of ruin. He was a prince of great ability and determination, and knew how to consolidate his authority, and establish it on a firmer basis. The language of the official documents in which the affairs of the empire were recorded was changed from Persian to Arabic; the freedom of intercourse which the former Caliphs had allowed their subjects was jealously repressed by him; the Arabian provinces were brought under his rule; and El Hejjaz, one of the most stern and bloodthirsty commanders that Arab history records, having been sent by him to Mecca, conquered the city and put the usurper, Abdallah ibn Zobeir, to death (A. D. 692).

Before Abd el Melik ascended the throne, he had pursued theological studies at Medina with such assiduity that he acquired the sobriquet of the "Mosque Pigeon", since, like those birds, he scarcely ever quitted the holy edifice, but remained there day and night reading the Koran. When news was brought him of his father's death and his own succession, he shut up the volume and said, "Here you and I part!" after which he occupied himself entirely with affairs of state.

His greatest achievement was the building of the magnificent Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem, which work, though undertaken chiefly through political exigencies, and in order to divert men from the pilgrimage to Mecca, the capital of his rival Abdallah ibn Zobeir, remains a lasting memorial of his munificence.

At Abd el Melik's death, the Caliphate passed into the hands of his eldest son, Walid, with a reversion, in case of his death, to his second son, Suleiman. Walid wished to set aside this arrangement in favour of his own son Abd el Aziz, and, with the assistance of El Hejjaz and other chiefs, planned to obtain from his brother a formal renunciation of his rights of succession. Suleiman sought the aid of the Yemeni chiefs, and the slumbering passions of the two factions being aroused, a series of revolutions and civil wars commenced, which ultimately resulted in the downfall of the Ommiade dynasty.

In A.D. 715 Walid died, and was succeeded by his brother Suleiman. He, like his brother, had wished one of his own sons to succeed him, but yielded to the advice of his counsellors, and left sealed instructions that Omar ibn Abd el Aziz, a grandson of Merwan, should be proclaimed Caliph at his death, which was accordingly done.

During the reigns of Abd el Melik and Walid the limits of the empire were vastly extended by a continued series of conquests, Spain, India, and Central Asia being included in their dominions. Arabia had been quieted by the death of Abdallah ibn Zobeir and the taking of Mecca. El Hejjaz, who had accomplished the task, ruled the turbulent provinces of Irak with an iron hand.

Walid II

Walid was the last great monarch of the Ommiade dynasty. Yezid II, who succeeded him, was a prince of frivolous character, and although he, or rather his brother Maslamah, succeeded in repressing a formidable revolt of the Yemeni faction, the slaughter with which the victory was accompanied only increased the latent hatred of the disaffected tribes. He died in A.D. 723, and was succeeded on the throne by his brother Hisham, who, by appointing Yemeni nobles as lieutenants to the various provinces, in place of the members of his own family, who had hitherto almost exclusively held these offices, succeeded in quieting at least a portion of his dominions for a time, although his parsimony alienated the affections of his subjects. Hisham died in 743, and was followed by his nephew, Walid II, a debauched and extravagant prince, who commenced his career by squandering the treasures which his predecessor had saved. An anecdote is related of him, that on one occasion he consulted the Koran by the species of divination practised in the middle ages with a volume of Virgil, and called Sortes Virgiliance, and lit upon the passage, "Disappointed shall be every rebel tyrant." In a rage he threw the sacred volume on the ground, and cried in impromptu verse .

"Me as a 'rebel tyrant' wouldst thou then affright?

Yea! for I am a rebel tyrant, thou art right!

And when in judgment thou before the Lord shalt stand,

Say then that thou wert torn thus by Walfd's right hand!"

A short time afterwards, say the historians, he was murdered.

The popularity which the extravagance of Walid II, had gained for him also induced him to try the dangerous experiment of proclaiming one of his sons, then mere children, his successor. The sons of Hisham and of Walid I naturally resisted this, and began to conspire against his authority. About the same time he committed a still greater mistake, and allowed one of the most popular leaders of the Yemenis, and formerly governor of Irak under Walid I, who was residing peaceably at Damascus, to be given up to, and put to death by, a political opponent. The Yemeni tribes rose like a man to avenge the death of their clansman, and with Yezid, a son of Walid I, at their head, attacked and slew the Caliph. This Yezid (III) was then proclaimed in his stead, but only reigned six months. He died in 744, and was succeeded by Merwan II, a grandson of the first Caliph of that name, who had been governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan. With a large army of disciplined soldiers, composed almost entirely of Modharite Arabs, he easily defeated a larger force of untrained Yemenites who had proclaimed Ibrahim, Yezid's brother. Caliph, and assumed the chief power. Merwan's strong partiality for his own (the Modhar) clan raised a storm of disaffection amongst the Yemeni Arabs; the other factions took advantage of the opportunity, and simultaneous revolutions broke out all over the empire. His prompt and vigorous measures soon quieted Syria. Arabia, which had been overrun by the Kharegites, was almost recovered, when a fresh outbreak occurred which changed the whole current of events.

Rise of the Abbasides

We have hitherto not spoken much of a branch of Mohammed's family who were destined to play a very great rôle in the drama of Islam. Abd al Muttaleb's other son, Abbas, the prophet's uncle. Although at first he refused to embrace the new faith, Islam, he ultimately gave in his adherence to it, and his son Abdallah, better known as Ibn Abbas, became one of the lights of religion, and the greatest authority for the reading and interpretation of the Koran. He left several children, but only the youngest of them, Ali, had issue, and it was his son Abdallah who first aspired to the Caliphate, and who created the Abbaside party.

Mohammed made common cause with the descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib, succeeded in getting himself acknowledged Imam, or spiritual head of the Church, and at once commenced the dissemination of his doctrines in Persia. Here everything was ripe for revolt: the conquering Arabs lived as a military caste amongst the vanquished Persians, treating them with ignominy, holding themselves exclusively aloof from them, and in every way wounding their proud and sensitive natures. Those who had ostensibly professed Islam had, as we have seen, warmly espoused the cause of Ali and his family, and it is not to be wondered at that the Abbaside emissaries found ready listeners amongst the former subjects of the Sassanian kings. Mohammed ibn Abbas died in 742, but his son Ibrahim was acknowledged as Imam, and the secret propaganda still continued as active as ever. The moment was favourable to a rising, for the Modhari and Yemeni factions were in constant and open conflict throughout the empire, especially in Khorassan. Ibrahim associated himself with one Abu Moslem, a brilliant and most determined soldier, of uncertain origin, but of great attachment to the house of Abbas, and appointed him his agent in Khorassan, in which province he had been born. About the same time a grandson of Zein el Abidin, the son of Husain, and the rightful Imam, was murdered; Abu Moslem had the corpse buried, and ordered all his followers to wear black, and himself carried a black standard, as a token of their grief for the loss of their spiritual chief. From this day black was adopted as the colours of the Abbasides. At once the greater part of the population of Khorassan appeared in the mourning hue, showing how successful the propaganda had been; and Abu Moslem, finding himself at the head of a sufficiently large army, broke out openly into revolt. He next sent an army into Irak. Kufa received him with open arms, expecting the house of Ali to be restored. In the meantime a letter from Abu Moslem to Ibrahim having been intercepted by Mervvan, the Imam was killed; not, however, before he had contrived to send a written document appointing his brother Abdallah his successor. The latter was proclaimed Caliph at Kufa; and although Merwan made a desperate resistance, he was beaten and hunted to death in Upper Egypt. The new Caliph inaugurated his reign by a series of cruel massacres, every member or partisan of the Ommiade family being put to death. On one occasion, having invited over seventy of them to his palace, and promised them an amnesty, he caused them to be treacherously murdered; and ordering nitas, or leathern trays used in executions, to be spread over their bodies, mounted on the top of the ghastly pile and ate his meal, jeering the while at the death groans that came from some of his still gasping victims. Es Saffah, "the shedder of blood", as he was called, reigned a little over four years, when he died in 753 A.D., and was succeeded by his brother Abu Jaafer, surnamed Mansur.

Persian influence was now paramount at Court, and Abu Moslem, the Khorassani, to whom the Abbasides owed their accession to power, was the most powerful and influential man in the kingdom. This was distasteful to the arrogant Arabs, and the Caliph himself began to scheme how he could rid himself of the founder of the fortunes of his race. With great difficulty and consummate perjury he at last induced the general to visit him, entertained him hospitably for some days to lull his suspicions, and when the opportunity offered, had him barbarously murdered.

El Mansur, a morose and avaricious prince, died in 760, and was succeeded by his son Mohammed, surnamed El Mehdi. He was the very reverse of his father in disposition; his vizier and principal adviser was Yakub ibn Daud, a Persian by birth and a Shiah by creed. Under his administration the Persians rose higher than ever in importance, and their indifference and even hostility to the religion of Islam was openly displayed. The vizier was, however, disgraced for neglecting to put a member of Ali's family to death, and was thrown into a dungeon, from which he was only released in the reign of Haroun Alraschid.

In El Mehdi's reign appeared the celebrated impostor Al Mukanna, better known as "the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan". Mehdi died in 786, bequeathing the succession to his eldest son El Hadi, and after the death of the latter, to his other son Alraschid

CHAPTER I.

HAROUN'S ACCESSION

AROUN ALRASCHID, more properly written Harun er Rashid, "Aaron the Orthodox", was the fifth of the Abbaside caliphs of Bagdad. His full name was Harun ibn Mohammed ibn Abdallah ibn Mohammed ibn Ali ibn Abdallah ibn Abbas. He was born at Ray the last day of Dhil Hejjah, 145 a.h. (20th March, 763 a.d.), according to some accounts, and according to others, 1st Moharrem, 149 a.h. (1sth Feb., 766 a.d.)

Haroun was twenty-two years old when he ascended the throne. His biographers unanimously speak of him as the most accomplished, eloquent, and generous of the Caliphs but though his name is a household word, and few figures stand out more grandly prominent in the history of their times, little is really popularly known about his private life and personal history.

I shall endeavour in the following sketch to paint not only the monarch but the man; the emperor and the adventurous prince, whose incognito strolls about Bagdad furnish some of the most humorous incidents of the "Arabian Nights."

Imbued with that strict devotional spirit which is so characteristic of the true Mohammedans, and which makes their religion enter into every phase of their thought and mingle with every incident of their daily life, Haroun Alraschid was unremitting in the ceremonial observances of his faith.

Every alternate year, with very few exceptions, he made the pilgrimage to Mecca, or he prosecuted a "Holy War" against the enemies of Islam. His pilgrimages were always performed on foot, and when we consider the distance between Bagdad and Mecca, and the inhospitable nature of the arid desert through which he had to travel, this fact alone will give some idea of the indomitable energy and perseverance of his character. He was the only Caliph who ever imposed upon himself so austere a duty, and he was perhaps the only one who ever condemned himself to the performance of a hundred prostrations with his daily prayers. Upon his pilgrimages he was always accompanied by a hundred doctors learned in the law, together with their sons; and in the years that he did not visit Mecca himself, he performed the pilgrim�age vicariously, sending three hundred men for that purpose at his own expense, and providing them with magnificent equipments for the journey. His piety was no doubt sincere, but there is good reason to believe that it was in a great measure due to his desire to

"Compound for sins he was inclined to,

By damning those he had no mind to."

Save in his lavish generosity, he much resembled his predecessor, Mansur, and, like him, took great delight in literature, especially poetry, and in the society of learned men.

It is related that Haroun Alraschid one day gave a great entertainment, to which Abu Atahiyeh, a blind poet, was invited. After dinner the Caliph said to the poet, "Give us a description of the happiness and prosperity which we enjoy". Whereupon Abu Atahiyeh sang :

"Right happy may thy life be made.

Safe in the lofty castle's shade!"

"Bravo!" said Haroun.

"And every morn and eve may all

Thy every slightest wish forestall!"

" Excellent!" said the Commander of the Faithful.

"But when thy latest struggling sighs,

With rattlings in the breast arise.

Then shalt thou of a surety know

'Tis all deception here below !"

On hearing this the Caliph burst into tears, and El Fadhl, the son of Yahya the Grand Vizier, of whom we shall have a great deal to say in the course of our narrative, turned to the poet, and said, in a tone of remonstrance. "The Commander of the Faithful sent for you to amuse him, and you have only made him sad". "Nay," said Alraschid, "leave him alone; he only saw that we were growing blind, and did not wish to make us more so."

Haroun was remarkable for the deference which he paid to men of letters. Abu Muawiyeh, a learned doctor, and also blind, was one day dining with the Caliph, when some one brought round a basin and ewer, and poured water on his hands, after the Eastern fashion, Abu Muawiyeh, being blind, did not of course perceive who it was that had paid him this attention, until Haroun Alraschid owned that he himself had waited on him. "Oh, Commander of the Faithful!" exclaimed the savant, "I suppose you do this byway of showing honour to learning!" "Just so," replied the Caliph.

Alraschid owed his own succession to the throne entirely to the prudence and sagacity of Yahya ibn Khalid ibn Barmeck, his secretary, and afterwards his Grand Vizier when Caliph. According to the Mohammedan law of succession, the eldest brother or male relative of the reigning monarch is the heir-apparent to the throne, and almost all Moslem princes have endeavoured to set aside the claims of their relatives in favour of their own children.

El Hadi was no exception to the rule, and conceived the idea of stripping his brother Haroun of his rights, and proclaiming his own son Jaafer as his successor. Yahya, the Barmecide, was then Haroun's secretary, and expected to exercise the important office of Vizier if ever his master should mount the throne. Hadi saw that his first step must be to conciliate Yahya; he therefore took him apart, and having given him a present of 20,000 dinars, began to broach the subject nearest his heart. Yahya, however, brought a very strong argument to bear upon the point: "If you do so. Prince of the Faithful," said he, "you will set your subjects an example of breaking an oath and disregarding a contract, and other people will be bold enough to do the same. But if you leave your brother Haroun in possession of his title of heir-apparent, and appoint your son Jaafer as next in succession to him, it will be much more likely to secure his ultimate accession to the throne". Hadi allowed the matter to rest for some time, but at length paternal affection got the better of him, and he again summoned Yahya into his presence and consulted him. Yahya urged that if the Caliph should die while Jaafer was yet a child, the chiefs of the imperial family would never recognise the validity of his succession. Hadi having acknowledged the truth of this, Yahya continued, "Renounce then this project, in order the better to arrive at the consummation of your wishes. Even if your father, El Mehdi, had not appointed Haroun to succeed you, it would be policy on your part to do so, inasmuch ai that is the only way to ensure the continuance of tin Caliphate in the family of the Beni Hashem."

Hadi, finding that he could not alter Yahya' opinion, threw him into prison, and displayed so much animosity to his brother himself that the latter sought safety in flight.

Hadi's rage then turned against Haroun's mother, Kheizaran, whom he endeavoured to poison; but she, learning of his intention, bribed some of his own slave girls to smother him as he slept.

This took place on the 15th September, A.D. 786. The same night, one of Haroun's partisans, named Khuzeimat ibn Khazim, came to Jaafer (the young prince for whom El Hadi had wished to supplant Haroun) as he lay in bed, and threatened to cut off his head unless he renounced all rights to the Caliphate. The boy, taken by surprise, consented, and in the morning Khuzeimat took him out, and, presenting him before the people, compelled him to repeat publicly his abdication, and absolve the people from their oath of allegiance to him.

Yahya ibn Khalid was still in prison when Hadi died; and, had not this event taken place would in all probability have been put to death himself.

The news having been brought to Haroun of his brother's death, and of his own accession to the throne, the new Caliph at once sent for Yahya, and invested him with the office of Grand Vizier. The form of words employed in the investment gave the new minister plenary power. "I invest you", said Haroun, "with the rule over my subjects. Rule them as you please; depose whom you will, and put whom you will into office"; and in ratification of his words he gave him his ring.

Some say that Haroun was asleep in bed, and that Yahya came to him and woke him up by saying, "Get up, oh Prince of the Faithful." "Why do you keep startling me by alluding to my accession to the Caliphate? What do you think Hadi will say if he hears of it?" Yahya then told him of Hadi's death, and gave him the deceased Caliph's ring. While he was ye speaking, another messenger came in, and told him of the birth of a son, to whom he gave then and there the name of Abdallah; this was the one that was afterwards called El Mamun. His second son, El Emin, was born in the month Shawwal of the same year by another mother.

His first act, after praying over the remains of El Hadi, was to put one Abu Isma to death. Abu Isma was walking out one day with Jaafer, Hadi's son, and happening to meet Haroun in a narrow archway in the city of Isabad, exclaimed, "Make way for the heir-apparent". Haroun replied, with mock humihty, "To hear is to obey, where the prince is concerned," and stood aside until Jaafer had passed by. This speech cost Abu Isma his life.

Haroun at once set out for Bagdad; and when he had entered the city, and reached the bridge called Jisr el Ghawwasin, he said, "El Mehdi had given me this signet-ring, which he had bought for a hundred thousand dinars, and which was called El Jebel. One day a messenger from Hadi came to me, and demanded it while I was standing on this very spot"; and as he spoke he threw it in the water. Some of the bystanders, however, dived in after it and fetched it up, to the Caliph's great delight Haroun's reign derives its lustre from the eminent men by whom he was surrounded, and the consummate ability with which, for the first seventeen years, the office of Vizier or Prime Minister was exercised by Yahya the Barmecide.

(El Jebel means the mountain; so the name of the celebrated diamond, Koh-i-nur, means "Mountain of light")

We must say a few words both on the nature of the office and the origin of Yahya's family.

Office of Vizier

We have seen how the Arabs, perforce, left the actual administration of the conquered countries in the hands of native officials. The Abbasides owing their rise entirely to Persian influence, it was only natural that Persian counsels should prevail, and we accordingly find a minister of Persian extraction at the head of affairs, and the Caliphate carried on by almost precisely the same machinery as that by which the Empire of the Sassanians was governed.

Like the Sassanian emperors, the Caliph was not only the divinely appointed ruler, but the embodiment of the Government itself His word was literally law, and his caprice might at any moment overturn the most careful calculations of the ministers, or deprive them of life, power, or liberty, during the performance of their most active duties, or at a most critical juncture. It was very seldom, however, that this awful personage condescendcd to trouble himself about the actual details of the executive Government. The Vizier, as the word implies, was the one who bore the real burden of the State, and it was both his interest and that of the people at large to keep the Caliph himself as inactive as possible, and to reduce him, in fact, to the position of a mere puppet. The office of Caliphate was often filled by men who were mere puppets, the real power being vested in the Grand Vizier, who made and managed them.

Thus, on the death of El Muktafi, in 908 A.D., his Vizier wished to set Abdallah ibn Motazz on the throne; but some courtiers, more wise than the rest, warned him that the proposed prince was well versed in literature, and would be likely to know too much.

"What need is there for you", they said, "to set on the throne of the Caliphate one who knows its measure and its price, who understands affairs, and can distinguish good from bad, and knows your garden and your estate? You had better set a boy upon the throne, that he may have the name of Caliph and you the meaning thereof. You can educate him, and when he is grown up, he will owe all to you, and you can have your will during his ministry". So the Vizier substituted El Muktadir, who was then only thirteen years old.

Yahya's father, Khalid, the son of Barmek, belonged to the old Persian aristocracy, the Dehkans or landed proprietors, the ancient feudal lords of the country, whose ancestry dated back to the ancient and most briUiant period of the Persian Empire. Khalid's father was the Barmek or guardian of the chief fire temple in Persia; and Khalid himself, who had ostensibly embraced Mohammedanism, but who was still devoted to the ancient faith and traditions of his country, attached himself to Abu Moslem, and became one of the foremost men in the movement which overthrew the Ommiade throne. On the accession to power of the Abbaside dynasty, he quickly rose to the highest office in the State, and was Vizier to Es Saffah, and after him to Mansur, the second Caliph of the dynasty.

El Masudi, the historian, relates the following anecdote of his prudence and sagacity: "Being sent by Abu Moslem to accompany the expedition against the governor of Irak, he and the general halted to take breakfast at a village on the way, when suddenly a herd of gazelles rushed from the desert, and ran into the camp amongst the soldiers. 'General!' exclaimed Khalid, 'order the men to mount at once'. Seeing no cause for alarm, the latter asked him what he meant. Khalid replied, 'The enemy are close upon us; nothing but the march of a large force would have driven these wild creatures from the desert into our camp'." The troops were scarcely mounted, before an advancing hostile squadron was seen in the distance, and the truth of Khalid's deduction proved.

On his accession to the throne, Alraschid appointed Yahya ibn Khalid ibn Barmek his lieutenant and Grand Vizier. Yahya, upon whom the whole responsibility of the Government really devolved, performed his duties with the most consummate ability and judgment. He fortified the frontiers and repaired all the deficiencies in the administration of the empire.

He filled the treasury, made the provinces flourishing and prosperous by encouraging trade and securing the public safety, and, in a word, brought the Caliphate up to the highest pitch of prosperity and glory. He personally superintended and organised the whole system of government. As a minister, he was eloquent, wise, accomplished, and prudent, and he was, moreover, an able administrator, ruling with a firm hand, and proving himself able to cope with any emergency that might arise.

With a most affable demeanour and great moderation, he combined an imposing dignity that commanded universal respect. His generosity was munificent in the extreme, and gained for him universal encomiums.

El Fadhl and Jaafer.

Yahya had two sons, El Fadhl and Jaafer: the former was associated with his father in his ministerial duties, and acquired the nickname of the "Little Vizier."

One day, Haroun asked Yahya how it was that people called El Fadhl by this name, and never gave it to Jaafer. "Because", said Yahya, "Fadhl acts as my deputy". "Well," replied the Caliph, "give Jaafer, too, some of the same offices as you entrust to his brother". "I cannot," answered the father; "his attention is too much occupied with your service and society." Yahya did, however, give Jaafer the post of secretary and controller of the Imperial Household, and people henceforward called him by the same sobriquet as his brother.

On another occasion, Alraschid wished to take the office of Privy Seal from El Fadhl and to give it to Jaafer; but not liking to propose it himself, he requested their father to write and make known his wishes. Yahya, in consequence of this intimation, wrote to his eldest son as follows : "The Prince of the Faithful, may God exalt his rule!, has ordered you to transfer the signet-ring from your right hand to your left". El Fadhl replied, "I have obeyed the Prince of the Faithful's orders concerning my brother. No prosperity that accrues to him is lost to me, and no rank that he attains is forfeited by me". Jaafer, when he saw this response, was delighted with his brother's affection, discernment, and wit.

Jaafer's position was a most responsible one, it being his duty to draw up and sign all the orders to the various officers throughout the whole empire, and to deliberate and decide upon all memorials and petitions presented to the Caliph, which often amounted to many hundreds daily.

El Fadhl was Haroun's foster brother, a tie that is considered in Moslem countries almost as near as blood relationship itself; he was, however, of an austere disposition.

Jaafer, the youngest of the two brothers, was, on the contrary, distinguished for his eloquence, his high intellectual attainments, his generosity, and the gentleness of his disposition. Haroun Alraschid consequently preferred the company of Jaafer to that of his brother El Fadhl, and the two became the most intimate friends. He was the constant companion of the Caliph's hours of pleasure, and often the hour of early morning prayer came round and found Haroun and Jaafer with Abu Nawas, the jester poet, and Mesrur, the black executioner, still over their cups.

The following anecdotes will illustrate the character of the father and his sons better than pages of description :

After the fall of the Barmek family, Haroun forbade the poets to write elegies upon them, imposing severe penalties upon anyone who should act contrary to this regulation. It so happened that some of the night-watch were passing by one of the ruined palaces which had formerly belonged to the unfortunate family, when they came upon a man with a strip of paper in his hand containing an elegy upon the Barmeks, which he was reciting, weeping as he did so. The watch arrested him, and took him before Alraschid, to whom he at once acknowledged the fact. "Did you not know of my prohibition?", said the Caliph. "I'll make an example of you; I'll...". "If your Majesty will hear my story first", said the prisoner, " you may do what you please."

"Go on," said Haroun. "Formerly," commenced the poet, "I was one of the least of Yahya ibn Khalid's clerks. One day the Vizier said to me, 'I wish you to entertain me at your house sometime or other'. I replied, 'Oh, my lord! I am not deserving of such an honour, and my house is quite unfit for you'. And as he would take no denial, I asked for a year's delay, that I might make fitting preparations; but he would not allow me more than a few months. So I set about my preparations, and as soon as they were completed to the best of my ability, I informed the minister that I was ready to receive him. The next day he came to me with his two sons, Jaafer and El Fadhl, and a few of his private suite. Then he stopped his horse at my door and alighted; 'Now then,' said he, 'I am hungry; make haste and get me something to eat.' And his son El Fadhl whispered, 'He likes roast fowl; bring whatever you have got as soon as possible.' So I went in and got the dinner ready. When the Vizier had finished eating, he got up and walked about the place, and then said suddenly, 'Now then, sir, show me all over your house.' I answered, 'This is my house, my lord; I have no other', 'Oh yes, you have', said he; 'you have another'. I assured him that it was the only one I possessed, whereupon he called for some masons, and when they appeared, he commanded them to break open a door in the wall. On this I remonstrated, and said, 'Oh, my lord, how can I break into my neighbour's house, when God has commanded us to respect our neighbours' rights?' 'Never mind,' said he; and when the door was made, we all went through it, and came into a beautiful garden well planted with fruit and flowers, with fountains bubbling up, and summer-houses, and dwellings, and everything that could delight the eye. The house itself was beautifully furnished, and filled with servants and slave girls everything on almost magnificent scale. 'This house,' said the Vizier, 'and all belonging to it, is yours'. Then I kissed his hands, and prayed for blessings on him, and he turned to his son Jaafer and said, 'How is he to keep up this establishment, my boy?' and Jaafer said, 'I will give him such and such an estate, and make out the conveyance of it to him immediately'. Then Yahya turned to El Fadhl and said, 'What is he to do, my boy, for ready money until he receives the revenues of his estate'. 'Oh,' said El Fadhl, 'I will give him ten thousand dinars, and bring them to him myself'. 'Well, make haste then', said their father, 'both of you.' They were as good as their word, and I entered into possession of the house and the estate, and received the ready cash, and have made a large fortune with it over and above what they gave me, and I enjoy it now; and, God knows, oh Prince of the Faithful, I have never lost an opportunity of showing my gratitude to them, although I never can repay the obligations I owe them; and if you like to kill me for that, you can; so do as you like!"

Alraschid was touched at the man's story, and had the common humanity to let him go; he also from that day removed his prohibition, and allowed the poets to write elegies on the beloved but unfortunate family.

Yahya's Maxims.

Many profound maxims are attributed to Yahya; amongst others, he is reported to have said, "No one ever addressed me that I did not listen to with respect. When he had finished speaking, my respect for him had either increased or vanished altogether."

Another of his sayings was, "Promises are the nets of the generous with which they catch the praises of the good."

Whenever he rode abroad, he always took with him purses containing each a hundred dirhems, for distribution to those whom he might meet.

Jaafer and El Fadhl kept up the family tradition for liberality.

Jaafer and the Viceroy of Egypt,

A coolness and estrangement had for a long time existed between Jaafer and the Viceroy of Egypt. It happened that a certain man forged a letter in Jaafer's name, containing strong recommendation of the bearer to the Viceroy. The latter, on receiving it, was delighted at what he thought an advance towards reconciliation on Jaafer's part, and received and entertained the bearer of the letter with great cordiality and hospitality. But having some doubts as to the authenticity of the document, he sent it to his agent in Bagdad, with instructions to find out the truth. The agent consulted with Jaafer's agent, who showed it to his master. Jaafer took the letter in his hand, and at once recognising the imposture, threw it among his officers and attendants who were present, asking them if that was his writing. They all immediately declared it to be a forgery, and Jaafer asked what ought to be done in the case of a man who had thus taken liberties with his name.

Some declared that he ought to be put to death as an example to deter others from such an act in future; others said he should have his right handcut off; others, again, thought he should receive a good scourging, and be dismissed. The most merciful of them all suggested that he should be simply sent back, and that his having had all the long journey from Bagdad to Egypt for nothing would be sufficient punishment. Jaafer listened patiently to their opinions, and when they had finished, "What," said he, "is there not one man of good feeling amongst you? You all know the bad terms which I have been on with the Viceroy of Egypt, and that it is only pride which has prevented us from making advances towards reconciliation. Here is a man whom God has raised up to open the door of reconciliation and correspondence, and to put an end to our enmity, and you advise me to reward him by doing him a mischief!" Then he took a pen and wrote on the back of the letter. "To the Viceroy of Egypt. Good God, how could you think that my letter was a forgery. It is my own handwriting, and the bearer is one of my most intimate friends. I hope you will treat him well, and send him back to me as soon as possible, for I am very anxious for his return."

When the Viceroy saw the Vizier's note on the back of the letter, he was very pleased, and heaped favours and presents on the man who had brought him the letter. The latter came back to Bagdad in most flourishing circumstances, and, presenting himself before Jaafer, fell down at his feet and wept, confessed the whole imposture, and begged for pardon. Jaafer asked him what the Viceroy of Egypt had given him, and hearing that he had received a hundred thousand dinars, he added a present of the same sum on his own account, and dismissed him.

They relate, too, that one day Jaafer had invited his intimate friends and boon companions, and determined to stay at home for a drinking bout. The apartment was profusely decorated, all the guests but one were assembled, dressed, as was their wont on these occasions, in robes of divers brilliant colours; the wine was circulating freely, and the room rang with the notes of musical instruments and the voices of the singers. The guest who had not yet arrived was called Abd el Melik ibn Salih, and Jaafer had given strict orders not to admit anyone else on any pretext whatsoever. It so happened that one of the Caliph's near relations, one Abd el Melik ibn Salih ibn Ali ibn 'Abdallah ibn Abbas, called to see Jaafer on some important business, and the porters, deceived by the similarity in names, at once admitted him. Now this other Abd el Melik ibn Salih was a person of most austere character and rigid morals, and although Jaafer had frequently tried to induce him to take part in one of his debauches, he had always persistently refused. On his admission into the room, both the visitor and his host perceived the situation at a glance; Jaafer was much embarrassed, but Abd el Melik was secretly pleased, and made up his mind to take advantage of the accident. In order to put Jaafer at his ease, he called for a parti-coloured robe, and joined with zest in the conversation, even drinking copious draughts of wine. Jaafer, delighted at having overcome the scruples of the great man, asked him what business it was that brought him there. "I came to beg your good offices with the Caliph," said Abd el Melik, "in three things. The first is, I owe a million dirhems which I wish to pay; the second, that I want for my son the governorship of a province befitting his rank; thirdly, I wish to marry my son to the daughter of the Caliph, who is his cousin, and for whom he would be a suitable match". "God has granted you all three," said Jaafer, "As for the money, I will send it to your house this moment; as for the province, I will make your son Governor of Egypt ; as for the marriage, I hereby betroth the lady so and so, daughter of the Prince of the Faithful, to him, with a dowry of such and such a sum. So now be off, and God bless you!"

When Abd el Melik reached his own home, he found the money there before him, and the next morning Jaafer sought the Caliph, and obtained the ratification of his appointment of Abd el Melik's son to the Governorship of Egypt, and induced the Caliph to consent to the youth's marriage with the princess.

Ishak ibn Ibrahim el Mosili relates : "I had brought up a damsel of great beauty, and educated her with such care that she had become unusually accomplished, then I made a present of her to El Fadhl, Yahya's son. El Fadhl, however, said to me, 'Oh, Ishak, the envoy of the Governor of Egypt has just been to ask me a particular favour. Keep this slave girl by you; I will tell him that I have taken a great fancy to her, and he, in order to persuade me to accede to his request, will try and get her for me. But when he asks the price, be sure not to let her go for less than 50,000 dinars'. So I went home," continued Ishak, "and the envoy came to me, and asked me about the girl, and I brought her out, and he offered me 10,000 dinars. This sum I refused, and he went as high as 20,000, and then to 30,000. When he offered this price, I could not contain myself any longer, but cried 'Done,' handed him over the girl, and received the money. The next morning I went to El Fadhl, and told him just how it had happened. He only smiled and said, 'The ambassador from Room (the Byzantine Empire) has also asked a great favour of me. I will impose the same conditions on him; so take your slave girl home and wait for him, and be sure not to take, less than 50,000 dinars.' Precisely the same thing happened with the envoy from Room; the very sound of the offer of 30,000 dinars was too much for me, and I sold him the girl. On the morrow, I went to El Fadhl, and he again gave me back the girl, telling me he would send me the ambassador from Khorassan the next morning. He was as good as his word, and this time I screwed up my courage sufficiently to demand 40,000 dinars. The next day I went to El Fadhl, and on his asking me what I had done, I said, 'I sold the damsel for 40,000 dinars, and, by Heaven, when I heard the mount mentioned, I almost lost my senses. She has brought me, may I be your ransom!, a hundred thousand dinars, and I have nothing further to desire. God reward you.' Then he ordered the girl to be brought out and given to me, and told me to take her away. So I said, 'This girl is the greatest blessing in the world and I emancipated her, and married her, and she is the mother of my children".

His brother El Fadhl was no less generous. Mohammed ibn Ibrahim, surnamed the Imam, a grandson of Mohammed ibn Ali ibn 'Abdallah ibn Abbas, came to El Fadhl one day, bringing a case filled with jewels. "My income," said he, "is not sufficient for my wants, and I already owe more than a million dirhems. I am ashamed to let anybody know my circumstances, and I do not like to apply to any merchant, although I have here a sufficient security. You have merchants who deal with you; may I beg of you to borrow the sum in question for me on these jewels?". With pleasure," said El Fadhl; "but on condition that you stay with me all day". Mohammed consented, and El Fadhl took the case just as it was sealed up with its owner's seal, and sent it, together with a million dirhems, to Mohammed's, telling the messenger to bring back a receipt for it, Mohammed stayed with El Fadhl till the evening, and, on returning home, was both surprised and delighted at finding his jewel-case and the money. Early the next morning, he set off to El Fadhl's house to thank him, but he found that he had already started to make a call upon the Caliph. Mohammed followed him to the palace; but as soon as El Fadhl heard of his arrival there, he went out by another door to avoid him, and made for his father's house. When Mohammed learnt where he had gone, he followed him, but El Fadhl had left before he reached the door, and had gone home, where at length the two met. Mohammed began to express his gratitude, and told him how he had started out early in order to thank him for his generosity, when El Fadhl replied, "I thought over your business, and I saw that the million I had sent you would only just pay your debts, and that you would be as badly in want of money as ever, and be obliged to run in debt again. So I went off early to see the Commander of the Faithful, and I explained your circumstances to him, and obtained another million for you. The reason I went out of another door to avoid you was that I did not wish to meet you until I had sent the money to your house; but it has gone now". "How shall I ever repay you?" said Mohammed. "The only way I can show my gratitude is to engage myself by the most sacred oath never to pay court to anyone but you, and never to ask a favour of anyone else." This oath he actually took, reduced it to writing, and caused it to be properly witnessed.

When, sometime afterwards, the Barmek family were ruined and disgraced, and El Fadhl ibn er Rabi held the office of Vizier, Mohammed again got into difficulties, and was recommended to apply to the new minister. Mindful, however, of his oath, he refused to ask or accept a favour at anyone's hand until his death.

Haroun's own unbounded liberality, especially to poets, lawyers, and divines, naturally earned for him the gratitude of these classes, and contributed no little to the reputation for justice and clemency which he enjoyed, but which his history shows him to have so little deserved.

No Caliph ever gathered round him so great a number of learned men, poets, jurists, grammarians, cadis, and scribes, to say nothing of the wits and musicians who enjoyed his patronage. Personally, too, he had every quality that could recommend him to the literary men of his time. Haroun himself was an accomplished scholar and an excellent poet: he was well versed in history, tradition, and poetry, which he could always quote on appropriate occasions. He possessed exquisite taste and unerring discernment, and his dignified demeanour made him an object of profound respect to high and low.

It is no wonder then that all contemporary writers are extravagant in his praises, and endeavour to conceal the darker side of his character.

Later authors we might expect to be less favourable in their criticisms; but it must be remembered that the reign of Alraschid was one of the most brilliant in the annals of the Caliphate, and the limits of the empire were then more widely extended than at any other period; that the greater part of the Eastern world and a large portion of Western Africa submitted to his laws, and paid tribute into his treasury; and that the city of Bagdad was then at the height of its splendour and magnificence; whereas, immediately after his death, the city began to lose its importance, the provinces fell away from the empire one by one, and the power of the Caliphs themselves rapidly declined. This was an additional reason for Moslem writers to look back with admiration and regret upon the period of greatness and prosperity, and to keep up the tradition of the magnificence of his reign.

Of his real character the events described in the following chapters will enable us to judge.

CHAPTER II.

"THE GOLDEN PRIME."

THE city of Damascus, full as it was of memorials of the pride and greatness of the Ommiade dynasty, was naturally distasteful to the Abbasides. The Caliph Mansur had commenced the building of a new capital in the neighbourhood of Kufa, to be called after the founder of his family, Hashimiyeh. The Kufans, however, were devoted partisans of the descendants of Ali, and although there had as yet been no actual breach between them and the Abbasides, neither party could forget that it was by a trick that the Alides had been deprived of the advantages of the insurrection which had been excited in their name, and that it was on the strength of the Alide claims that the Abbasides had mounted to power. The growing jealousy and distrust between the two houses made it inadvisable for the Beni Abbas to plant the seat of their empire in immediate propinquity to the head-quarters of the Ali faction, and Mansur therefore selected another site. This was Bagdad, on the western bank of the Tigris. It was well suited by nature for a great capital. The Tigris brought commerce from Diyar Bekr on the north, and through the Persian Gulf from India and China on the east; while the Euphrates, which here approaches the Tigris at the nearest point, and is reached by a good road, communicated directly with Syria and the west. The name Bagdad is a very ancient one, signifying "given or founded by the deity," and testifies to the importance of the site. The new city rapidly increased in extent and magnificence, the founder and his next two successors expending fabulous sums upon its embellishment, and the ancient palaces of the Sassasian kings, as well as the other principal cities of Asia, were robbed of their works of art for its adornment.

Here, in the midst of the most amazing pomp and luxury, with an empire which extended from the confines of India and Tartary to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, with illimitable resources at his command, with absolutely despotic power, and surrounded by all the brightest wit and learning that the age could afford, lived the Caliph Haroun Alraschid.

But the very extent of the empire, and the impossibility of centralising the authority, so as not to afford opportunity to ambitious or unscrupulous governors either to assert their own independence or to oppress the people for their private aggrandisement, made the reign of Haroun Alraschid a very stirring one, in a military sense.

Scarcely a year passed without a revolution in one or other of the provinces. The various opposing parties were all as actively hostile as ever : in Syria and Mesopotamia, the sympathy with the Ommiades, in Khorassan, the undying hostility to Arab rule and Arab faith, and everywhere dissatisfaction at the extortions and oppression of the provincial governors, were active sources of trouble to the government of the Caliph.

In order to show what the state of the empire was, and the relation of the various provinces to the central government, it will be necessary to enumerate a few of the principal of these insurrectionary movements.

The fifth year of Alraschid's reign, A.D. 791, was disturbed by the revolt of Yahya ibn Abdallah, a lineal descendent of Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin, son-in-law, and successor of Mohammed. The fate of his brothers. En Nafs ez Zakiyeh and Ibrahim, during a former reign, had naturally inspired Yahya ibn Abdallah with considerable fears for his own safety, and he therefore took refuge in Deilem, A.H. 175. There his claims to the Imamate, that is, to the exercise by divine right of the highest authority in Islam, were speedily recognized by the populace, who proclaimed him the legitimate Caliph. A large number of people soon began to flock to his standard from all quarters, and the movement presently assumed such threatening proportions, that Haroun Alraschid was obliged to resort to active measures of repression. He accordingly despatched El Fadhl, son of Yahya his Prime Minister, with an army of fifty thousand men against the insurgents, and appointed him Governor of Jorjan, Taberistan, and Rye. Yahya marched with his army to within a short distance of the headquarters of Yahya ibn Abdallah, and probably fearing the effect of the religious enthusiasm of the enemy's troops, since the rebel chief was a lineal descendant of Ali, and therefore legitimate head of the Shiah sect, to which almost all Persians belonged, he abstained from giving him battle, and entered into negotiations for a peaceful settlement. Yahya ibn Abdallah at length yielded to the specious promises of the envoy of the Abbaside Caliph, and agreed to capitulate, on condition that Alraschid would give him an autograph letter of amnesty, signed by the Cadis or magistrates, and the Fakihs or legal officers of the Empire, as witnesses. To this the Caliph, who was much annoyed at the pretensions of his rival, and at the success which had hitherto attended him, consented, and an amnesty, couched in the most unreserved terms, was forwarded to him, signed not only by the officers just mentioned, but by the elders of the Royal House of the Beni Hashem, to which Alraschid belonged. This letter, accompanied by rich presents, induced the Pretender to go with El Fadhl to Bagdad, and on his arrival he was received by the Caliph with the greatest cordiality. He had not been at the capital, however, for many days, before Alraschid had him thrown into prison, and summoned a council of the legal officers of the State to deliberate upon the validity of the amnesty. Some of them, to their honour be it said, maintained that a document so solemnly ratified must remain in force; but others, to curry the Imperial favour, declared that it was null and void, and their opinion was of course eagerly adopted.

When a sovereign requires an excuse for punishing a subject, there is always some wretch willing to perjure himself in order to get himself into favour by bringing a false accusation against the obnoxious individual, and so it was in the case of Yahya ibn Abdallah.

A certain man of the family of Zobeir ibn Awwam traduced Yahya to Alraschid, and declared that, since he had received the letter of amnesty, he had been conspiring and endeavouring to collect another army, with the intention of again unfurling the standard of revolt at the first opportunity.

The Caliph at once sent for the prisoner, confronted him with the Zobeiri, and demanded of him if there was any truth in the charges which the latter had made against him. Yahya indignantly denied them, and dared his accuser to repeat the calumnies on his oath. The Zobeiri, however, professed his readiness to do so, and commenced to say, "By God, who seeketh out and punisheth the guilty ---", but before he could finish the oath, Yahya interrupted him. "Stop!" said he; "let that oath alone; for God never hastens to punish man when he glorifies Him. Swear it rather by the oath of clearance, the greatest oath there is, where one declares oneself clear of the 'strength and power of God,' and relies ever after upon his own strength and power if such and such is the case."

The accuser trembled on hearing this formula. "What an outrageous oath!" said he; "I will not swear it." "What is the meaning of this refusal ?" asked the Caliph. "If you are telling the truth, what have you to fear from the oath?" The wretched man, knowing what he had to expect if he confessed to having told a lie, thus both baulking the Caliph of his revenge, and conveying the impression that the monarch had himself suborned him, or at least connived at his false testimony, determined to take the oath required of him, and thus sealed the death-warrant of Yahya.

Here the historians relate a signal instance of divine retribution. Scarcely had the Zobeiri left the assembly, when he stumbled against something in the way, and so injured himself in falling, that he died before the day was out. When they came to bury him, the earth with which they attempted to fill up the tomb mysteriously sank away as fast as they threw it in, and they could not succeed in filling up the grave. Recognising this as a sign of the wrath of Heaven for the blasphemous perjury that had been committed, they gave up the attempt, and covered over the tomb with a sort of roof and left it.

But Alraschid, with all his piety, did not care for a miracle when it was in opposition to his own passions, and in spite of the amnesty, and the divine testimony to Yahya's innocence, the latter was put to a cruel death in prison.

In the same year, threatening symptoms of a revolution appeared in Egypt, and Haroun recalled the governor, Musa ibn Isa, a cousin of the Caliph's father, whom he had been led to suspect was harbouring sinister designs against him, and had instigated the movement.

When Haroun heard this, he declared that he would depose him, and replace him by the meanest of those about his door. He accordingly ordered Jaafer to bring one Omar ibn Mehran, who was surnamed Abu Hafs, to him, a man of extremely ugly countenance, with a cast in his eye, who used to dress in a very mean fashion, and to ride about with his servant on the same horse behind him. When the Caliph asked this forbidding-looking personage if he was ready to go to Egypt as governor, he replied churlishly, "I am ready to govern the place, on condition that as soon as I have set the country in order I shall come back whenever I please." Haroun consented to this arrangement, and Omar set out. Arrived at Cairo, he made straight for Musa's house, and sat down in the last row of those who were attending the levée. When all the rest had departed, Musa noticed him, and asked him what he wanted. Omar handed him the Caliph's letter, and the governor, on reading it, said, "And has Abu Hafs arrived, God bless him?". "I am Abu Hafs," replied the bearer of the note. Musa said, "May God curse Pharoah for saying, 'Is not the Kingdom of Egypt mine?"

However, he resigned the governorship to the newcomer without any further hesitation, and Omar entered then and there upon his duties. His first instructions to his secretary were not to accept any presents on his behalf, except what could be put into his purse; so when the grandees and officials brought the customary presents, he refused all such gifts as horses, slave girls, and the like, and only accepted ready money and valuable clothes. These he carefully put by, labelling each with the name of the giver.

Disturbance in Damascus.

Hitherto the people of Egypt had always been backward with their taxes, and this Omar determined to put a stop to. So he began by making an example of a certain man, and sued him for his taxes; the debtor tried to put him ofif, and declared that he would only pay it at Bagdad itself. Omar took him at his word, and, although he remonstrated and offered to find the money, sent him to the capital. After that, no one tried to put him off; and the first and second instalments were regularly paid. When, however, it came to the third instalment, the people were unable to pay, and were obliged to ask for a delay, complaining that they found themselves short of money. Thereupon, Omar produced the presents which had been made him, paid them into the treasury, credited the givers with the amounts, and then sued them for the balance. They saw that so unusually honest a governor was not to be trifled with, and contrived to find the money; so that, for the first time within the memory of man, the Egyptian revenue was punctually paid. Having accomplished this, Omar resigned his post, and went back to Bagdad.

In the year 176 A.H. the old quarrel broke out in Damascus between the Modhari and Yemeni clans. Amir ibn Amarah, surnamed Abu Heidham, a celebrated Arab knight, was at the head of the Modharis, and the beginning of the quarrel was that one of Alraschid's officers in Sejistan had killed one of Abu Heidham's brothers. Abu Heidham, hearing the news, gathered a number of people to his standard, and revolted. Like most distinguished Arabs, he was a poet, and some verses which he composed as an elegy on his brother, and which he used to recite in public, served to inflame the minds of the populace.

Alraschid having induced another brother of Abu Heidham to betray him, seized the rebel chief and took him prisoner. As his insurrection, however, was not an important one, and arose from no antagonism to the Caliph's authority itself, he set him free.

About the same time (177 A.H.), El Attaf ibn Sufeyan el Azadi, one of the most powerful chiefs of Mosul, also revolted against Alraschid's lieutenant there, Mohammed ibn Abbas El Hashimi, and, placing himself at the head of 4000 men, collected the taxes, and held possession of the city for two years, when Alraschid himself attacked it, and destroyed the walls.

Attaf escaped to Armenia. With a view to quieting the disaffected provinces. El Fadhl ibn Yahya el Barmeki was appointed by the Caliph governor of Khorassan in this year, in addition to the provinces of Rai and Seistan, which he already held.

In the year 794, the Haufiyeh in Egypt revolted against their governor, Ishak ibn Suleiman; but Alraschid sent Herthemat ibn Ayan, who was then Viceroy of Palestine, against them, who reduced them to submission.

The Haufiyeh were connected with the Cais and Cudha'ah tribes, who had taken a conspicuous part in the disturbances at Damascus,

Revolt of El Walid es Sheibani.

A more important revolt was that of El Walid ibn Tarif es Sheibani in Mesopotamia. Having beaten two detachments of the Caliph's forces, Alraschid despatched Yezid ibn Mazyed, also a member of the Sheibani clan, to reduce him to submission; but Yezid, probably disliking to attack his clansman, continued to shilly-shally and temporize with him.

The Barmek family were on bad terms with Yezid, and told Alraschid that he was only trifling with El Walid through friendly feeling, because they both belonged to the same stock. The Caliph, influenced by their insinuations, wrote to Yezid an angry letter, in which he said, "If I had sent one of the common servants, he would have accomplished more than you have done; but it is evident that you are not to be depended on, and have a bigoted attachment to your own tribe, and I swear by God that if you do not make haste to punish him, I will send some one to bring me back your head."

Yezid, on this, thought it necessar y to make a decisive move, and at length encountered El Walid. He arrived at the place of conflict in bad condition, being so thirsty after his march that he was obliged to put his ring into his mouth and suck it. Addressing his troops, he said, "May my mother and father be a ransom for you. These are only undisciplined rebels who are going to attack you; but do you stand firm, and when their attack is over, charge them, for if once they are routed they will never rally". The event turned out as he had predicted. Yezid and his troops withstood the charge of the enemy, then rushed upon them and broke their ranks.

Yezid's son, Asad, was present in the engagement with his father. There is said to have been such a striking likeness between father and son, that the only thing by which they could be distinguished one from the other was that Yezid had a scar on his face from a sword-cut right across his forehead. Asad wished to get a similar scar, and when, during the fight, he saw a blow about to descend, he put his head above his buckler, and received the blow in the same place as his father had been wounded.

Yezid pursued El Walid, captured him, and beheaded him.

When El Walid was slain, his sister Laila herself joined the troops, clad in armour, and led them on to the charge. Yezid, however, recognised her, and, riding up to her, made a thrust at the crupper of her horse with his lance, and cried, "Get thee home; you're disgracing the clan!", whereupon she became ashamed of her effrontery, and retired. She was a poetess of no mean capacity, and wrote an elegy on her brother, El Walid, which is still preserved.

Africa had belonged to the Caliphate in little more than name, but, under the energetic governorship of Yezid ibn Hatim el Muhallebi, had enjoyed a certain amount of quiet, and acknowledged the authority of Haroun Alraschid.

In 786 Hatim died, leaving his son Daud provisionally governor in his stead. An insurrection of the Ibadhiyeh, a sect of the Kharegites, broke out about this time, and Daud despatched a body of troops against them; but the insurgents were victorious, and routed the army. Daud, however, sent some reinforcements, and the Ibddhfyeh were dispersed with much slaughter.

Daud remained in office for nine months, when Alraschid appointed his uncle, Rauh ibn Hatim, governor instead.

The province continued quiet under his administration, chiefly for the reason, as the historian naively remarks, that his brother Yezid had killed so many of the rebels. He, too, died at Cairowan, and was buried by the side of his brother in the month of Ramazan.

Alraschid now appointed El Fadhl, son of the last mentioned viceroy, ruler over the African provinces in place of Habib ibn Nasr el Mohallebi, whom he had sent there, and now recalled.

El Fadhl designated his nephew, El Mogheirah, his lieutenant in Tunis; but this officer rendered himself very unpopular with the army as well as with the Tunisian chiefs, who demanded his removal. To this his cousin, the Governor-General, refused to listen, whereupon the Caids (or chieftains) assembled together, appointed one Ibn el Jarud their leader, and expelled El Mogheirah. At the same time they wrote to El Fadhl, declaring that they did not wish to throw off their allegiance to the Government, but had only expelled the lieutenant-governor because of his oppression and bad behaviour, and demanded that El Fadhl should send some one else to assume the office.

El Fadhl accordingly sent his cousin Abdallah, a son of Yezid ibn Hatim, and when he was about a day's journey from Tunis, Ibn el Jarud despatched some troops to find out whom he had with him, but strictly enjoined them to do nothing without his orders.

The leaders of the expedition, however, imagining that El Fadhl had sinister intentions in sending his cousin, and that he would revenge himself on them for expelling his nephew, set upon the party, killed the newly-appointed lieutenant-governor, and brought back his generals prisoners.

Ibn el Jarud and his party were now fairly committed to the revolt, and obliged to use all their efforts to procure the removal of El Fadhl.

Ibn el Farsi, who had been original instigator of the movement, assumed the command, and adopted a most ingenious though treacherous plan for assuring the co-operation of his fellow-chiefs. He wrote a separate letter to each of the Caids and Prefects of cities in Africa, saying, "The misconduct of El Fadhl in the dominions of the Prince of the Faithful is such that we are compelled to revolt from his authority. And since we know of no one more fitted to act as Vicegerent of the Prince of the Faithful than yourself, and no one of more influence over the array, we have resolved, if victorious, to make you our leader, and we have written to the Prince of the Faithful to appoint you governor of the province. Should we, however, prove unsuccessful, no one need know that we ever wished to place you in such a position. Adieu."

This turned all the officers against El Fadhl, and brought large numbers to the insurgents' standard, including many of the soldiery. On the very first engagement El Fadhl was defeated, and withdrew to Cairowan, where he made a stand for a day; but in the next Ibn el Jarud succeeded in forcing the gates, drove them out, and pursued them to Cabus, where El Fadhl was killed.

The death of their leader so exasperated the army that they rallied, and, making El Ala ibn Said, governor of the city of Zab, their general, repelled two I severe attacks of Ibn el Jarud, but were unable to hold Cairowan against him.

Haroun Alraschid, hearing of Ibn el Jarud's revolt, ordered Herthemat ibn Ayan to proceed to the country and repress the movement; but he sent on Yahya ibn Musa beforehand to try and induce the rebel chief to come to terms. Yahya arrived just as Ibn el Jarud had fortified himself in Cairowan, and entered into negotiations with him, showing him the Caliph's letter. Ibn el Jarud endeavoured to temporise and to deceive the envoy, saying that if he surrendered Cairowan, the native Africans who were with El Ala would seize the place, and it would be lost to the Imperial Government. But he promised that, if he conquered El Ala in the sortie which he intended to make, he would wait for the arrival of Herthemah; while, if he were conquered himself, Yahya could do as he pleased. Yahya saw plainly what his intentions were, and that if he did conquer El Ala, he could defy Herthemah. So he took Ibn el Farsf aside, reproached him with his breach of allegiance, and induced him, by the hope of his own complicity being overlooked, to aid in reducing Ibn el Jarud. Ibn el Farsf thereupon again brought his perfidious policy into play, and, by calumniating Ibn el Jarud, gained over a large number of the soldiery, and gave him battle. Ibn el Jarud determined on revenging himself, and arranged with one of his friends, named Talib, that he would distract Ibn el Farsi's attention by reproaching him with his treachery, and that Talib should then seize the opportunity and kill him. This plan was carried out, the traitor was killed, and his army routed. Yahya then went off to join Herthemah at Tripoli, and as soon as it became known that the Imperial Commissioner was so near, people flocked in from all sides to the standard of El Ala. Ibn el Janid, seeing his disadvantage, wrote to Yahya, offering to surrender Cairowan to him, and Yahya accordingly set off for that place, which Ibn Jarud vacated. El Ala and Yahya hurried on to the town, each hoping to reach it before the other, and get all the glory for himself. El Ala was the first to arrive, and having taken possession of the place, set off and joined Herthemah. But Ibn el Jarud had already surrendered himself to the last-named general, who sent him to Bagdad with a letter to the Caliph, informing him that El Ala had been the cause of his revolt. Alraschid wrote and ordered El Ala to be sent to him, and when he arrived, he gave him presents and khilas or dresses of honour, equivalent to modern "decorations," Ibn el Jarud was kept a prisoner at Bagdad. Herthemah took possession of Cairowan in the month of Rabii, and the province was once again quieted for a time.

Herthemah, however, found the people of Africa so turbulent, and insurrections so frequent, that he ultimately resigned the governorship of the province in Ramadhan, 181 A.H.

Mohammed ibn Mukatil, a foster-brother of the Caliph, was now made Viceroy of Africa in place of Herthemat ibn Ayan. He rendered himself obnoxious to the soldiery, who joined with the natives and revolted against his authority, making Makhled ibn Murreh their leader. The latter was unsuccessful, and was forced to take refuge in a mosque, where he was taken and slain.

The Tunisians also rebelled against the Viceroy, and attacked Cairowan in 799 A.D., under the leadership of Temmam ibn Temim. Having conquered the town, he allowed Mohammed to depart unhurt, on condition that he left Africa for good.

Ibrahim ibn el Aghlab, Prefect of the province of Zab, however, drove out Temmam and recalled Mohammed. But the reinstatement of the latter was only a trick of Ibrahim ibn el Aghlab, who, by representing to the Caliph the extreme unpopularity of the governor, and offering to pay into the imperial treasury an annual sum of 40.000 dinars, instead of drawing out of it 100,000 yearly as the other governors had done, induced Haroun to appoint him to the office instead. The Caliph, who saw that he could not retain Africa without immense sacrifices if Ibrahim went over to his enemies, not only accepted this proposal, but allowed the office to become hereditary in the Aghlabite family.

The Edrisi Dynasty

Such Mohammedanism as the Berber inhabitants of West Africa had was of a very heterodox character; they still clung to their ancient forms of belief, and, like the Persians, welcomed any form of Islam which enabled them to escape from the rigid bonds of Semitic orthodoxy. For the same reason as the Persians, therefore, they opened their arms to the descendants of Ali, who represented the more romantic and liberal side of their religion.

Already, in the year 786, under the Caliph El Hadi, Edris, a lineal descendant of Hasan, the son of Ali, having taken part in an unsuccessful insurrection at Mecca, fled to Africa, where, two years after, he proclaimed himself Imam, and was recognised as sovereign by a large number of the Berber tribes. In a short space of time he had gained possession of the whole of the further Maghreb, and fixed upon Telemsan as his capital city. Haroun Alraschid, hearing of this, consulted Yahya the Barmecide, who despatched an Arab named Suleiman to assassinate the young prince. Suleiman, by professing great devotion to the Alide cause, gained Edris' confidence, and took the opportunity of presenting him with a phial of volatile poison, which caused his death, A.D. 791-792. The murderer escaped, but not without some severe wounds on the head and the loss of one hand, inflicted by Raschid, the friend and guardian of Edris. The crime was, however, useless, as one of Edris' wives brought forth a son shortly after, who was recognised as his father's successor. The town of Fez, which was founded by one of the dynasty in 807, became their capital.

Ibrahim ibn el Aghlab at first conceived the idea of absorbing this kingdom into his own, the young Edris II being then in his minority; but abstained from hostilities, probably because he thought the presence of an Alide monarchy in such close neighbourhood to the Ommiade dynasty, which had already established itself in Spain, would prove useful to him in case of a rupture with the Caliph of Bagdad.

Operations against the Greeks

But in addition to troubles in the provinces of his own empire, and wars with Moslem foes, the Caliph had the standing feud to carry on with the Byzantine empire, and also a perpetual conflict to wage with the Turkoman barbarians of Khozar.

Against neither the one nor the other of these was he able to hurl the whole irresistible force of the Mussulman army, the services of large bodies of his troops being always required in some part of his dominion to suppress an insurrection. He made, however, yearly raids into the Greek territory, either in person or by his lieutenants, gaining each time a large booty in property and slaves. In the year 791 A.D., during a very hard winter, they appear to have suffered a severe reverse; but in some sea-fights at Crete, according to the Arab authorities, and at Cyprus, according to the Byzantine writers, the Moslems were the victors. The Admiral Theophilus was taken prisoner and brought before Haroun Alraschid, who offered him the usual choice between embracing Mohammedanism or death. On his refusal, he was hewn in pieces.

In the year 797-798, Haroun marched on and seized the town of Safsaf, whilst Abd el Melik ibn Salih pressed on to Ancyra. The events which followed the blinding of Constantine by his unnatural mother paralysed the Greeks, and after an interchange of captives, the first that had taken place under the Abbasides, the Arabs returned home, and a four years' truce was concluded, the Empress Irene having agreed to the payment of a heavy tribute.

Haroun himself was so much occupied by the massacres of his co-religionists in Armenia by the Khozars, that he was unable to take advantage of the defenceless position of the Byzantines.

In 802, on Nicephorus obtaining possession of the throne, the war broke out anew. The new emperor wrote a letter to Haroun, couched in the following terms :

"From Nicephorus, King of the Greeks, to Haroun, King of the Arabs.

"The empress who preceded me considered you as a Rook and herself as a Pawn. She paid you tribute when you ought to have paid her double the amount. This was out of a woman's weakness and stupidity. So when you have read this letter of mine, send back the tribute you have received of her, and ransom yourself with whatever you may be called upon to pay, otherwise the sword is between you and me."

When Haroun read this, he was in such a fearful rage that no one dared look at him, much less to speak to him, and all the courtiers retired from his presence. Then he called for a pen and ink, and wrote on the back of Nicephorus' letter: "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. From Haroun, Commander of the Faithful, to Nicephorus, the dog of the Greeks. I have read your letter, you son of a she-infidel, and you shall see the answer before you hear it."

"He set forth that very day, camped at Heraclea, and conquered, plundered, burnt, and ruined," to quote an old Arab historian, until Nicephorus, who was occupied with the rebel, Bardanes, was compelled to sue for peace. This the Caliph consented to grant at last, on condition that Nicephorus paid him a tribute every half-year.

But when Haroun had returned and settled at Rakkeh, Nicephorus, having conquered Bardanes, and thinking that as the cold was then very severe the Caliph could not return to invade his territory, broke the treaty.

When this news reached Rakkeh, no one dared to tell it to Haroun, fearing lest they might be despatched on active service in the inclement weather.

At length a certain poet contrived to hint to the Caliph how matters stood :

"Nicephorus has broken the terms which thou didst give him.

But the wheel of destruction will revolve upon him;

Give glad tidings to the Prince of Believers, for, verily, it is a great victory that God will give thee,

A victory surpassing all the victories of this our day.

In the triumph thy triumphant banners will gain."

When Alraschid heard this, he cried out, "Ah! and has Nicephorus done this?", and was much incensed to find that his ministers had deceived him. He at once set out for the Grecian frontier, and although the weather was most inclement, and the hardships undergone by the Moslems were terrible, Nicephorus was defeated, with a loss of 40,000 men. A fresh exchange of captives and a truce followed; but the Greeks, taking advantage of the insurrection of Ali ibn Isa in Khorassan, of which we shall speak later, again commenced hostilities.

Haroun at once conducted a host of 135,000 men and took Heraclea, while his generals conquered and dismantled other fortresses, and his fleet captured 17,000 prisoners at Cyprus, and sent them on to Syria.

Nicephorus, now quite disheartened, was obliged to make peace on most humiliating terms, paying a poll-tax for himself and family, and promising never to rebuild Heraclea. Of course, as soon as Haroun returned home, all these promises were forgotten, and in 807 the Greeks defeated Yezid ibn Makhled, who had been sent against them with 10,000 men, in the neighbourhood of Tarsus. Herthemat ibn Ayan, who with 30,000 men had been posted to guard the frontier and watch the building of the fortifications at Tarsus, was equally unfortunate, and, as he was shortly after obliged to leave for Khorassan to quell the disturbances there, the Byzantines were able for a while to defy the Moslem power.

Haroun vented his spleen on the Christians in his dominions, by again bringing into force the obselete regulations and disabilities imposed upon them by the Caliph Omar at the taking of Jerusalem by the Moslems. These were as follows ;

"The Christians shall enjoy security both of person and property; the safety of their churches shall be, moreover, guaranteed, and no interference is to be permitted, on the part of the Mohammedans, with any of their religious exercises, houses, or institutions; provided only that such churches, or religious institutions, shall be open night and day to the inspection of the Moslem authorities. All strangers and others are to be permitted to leave the town if they think fit; but anyone electing to remain shall be subject to the herein-mentioned stipulations. No payment shall be exacted from anyone until after the gathering in of his harvest. Mohammedans are to be treated everywhere with the greatest respect; the Christians must extend to them the rights of hospitality, rise to receive them, and accord them the first place of honour in their assemblies. The Christians are to build no new churches, convents, or other religious edifices, either within or without the city, or in any other part of the Moslem territory; they shall not teach their children the Koran; but, on the other hand, no one shall be prevented from embracing the Mohammedan religion. No public exhibition of any kind of the Christian religion is to be permitted. They shall not in any way imitate the Moslems, either in dress or behaviour, nor make use of their language in writing or engraving, nor adopt Moslem names or appellations. They shall not carry arms, nor ride astride their animals, nor wear or publicly exhibit the sign of the cross. They shall not make use of bells, nor strike the nakus (wooden gongs), except with a suppressed sound; nor shall they place their lamps in public places, nor raise their voices in lamentation for the dead. They shall shave the front part of the head and gird up their dress; and, lastly, they shall never intrude into any Moslem's house on any pretext whatever. To these conditions Omar added the following clause, to be accepted by the Christians: "That no Christian should strike a Moslem, and that, if they failed to comply with any single one of the previous stipulations, they should confess that their lives were justly forfeit, and that they were deserving of the punishment inflicted upon rebellious subjects."

We have hitherto spoken only of the imperial events of Haroun's reign, and the figure of the Caliph appears throughout the history as a central one, no doubt, but still a very impalpable one. The course of events was not, however, directed by Haroun himself, but by the Vizier, Yahya ibn Barmek, and his sons; and the personal history of the Caliph is so intimately connected with this family, that it is impossible to judge of him as an individual apart from his relations with them.

Readers of the "Arabian Nights" are familiar with the name of Jaafer the Barmecide, the constant companion of the Caliph Haroun Alraschid in his nightly incognito walks through the city of Bagdad; and the expression, "a Barmecide feast," from a comic story in the same collection of tales, has passed into a proverb in our language. The story of the Barmecides, and especially of the fate of Jaafer, is perhaps one of the most pathetic in the annals of Oriental history, and that story we must now proceed to tell.

CHAPTER III.

THE FALL OF THE BARMECIDES.

HAROUN'S treatment of the family of Yahya, his old protector and guardian, and particularly the murder of his friend and companion, Jaafer, is a dark spot in his career.

Various causes are assigned for the Caliph's sudden change of disposition towards the Barmecides, and various influences were certainly at work against them. In the first place, the fact that a family of purely Persian origin monopolised the important offices of the State, and virtually held the reins of government in their own hands, was intolerable to the Arab party. These, headed by El Fadhl ibn Rabia, whose father had been Vizier to El Hadi, but had been removed by Haroun to make way for Yahya, lost no opportunity of plotting and of poisoning the Caliph's mind against them. On one occasion a copy of anonymous verses was presented to Alraschid, in which the writer said:

"Say to God's trusty servant on earth, to him who has the power to loose and bind, Lo! the sons of Yahya are kings like thee; there is no longer any difference between you; thy behests are altered by them, but theirs are implicitly fulfilled. Jaafer has built a palace, in the like of which no Persian or Indian ever dwelt. The floor thereof is set with pearls and rubies, and the ceiling thereof is of amber and aloes wood; we even fear lest he may inherit thy kingdom when thou art hidden in the grave. None but an arrogant slave dare so vie with his lord".

The laxity of the Barmecides in religious observances, their obvious leanings towards the Shiah heresies, and the free-thinking opinions openly expressed at the discussions which took place at their palaces, were also eagerly seized upon by their enemies, and used for the purpose of calumniating them with the orthodox Haroun. Presently a numerously-signed petition was presented to him by a certain divine, couched in the following terms :

"Prince of Believers! what answer wilt thou give on the Resurrection Day, and how wilt thou justify thyself before Almighty God, for having given to Yahya ibn Khalid, his sons and relations, such unlimited control over the Mussulmans, and entrusted to them the government of the State these godless infidels who secretly hold the doctrines of the Atheists

Haroun showed the petition (perhaps as a caution) to Yahya, and Mohammed, the writer, was thrown into prison; but the words undoubtedly made an impression on the Caliph's mind.

Still, there is every reason to believe that the charge of infidelity, as well as that of disloyalty and boundless ambition, would have been disregarded, had it not been for a private scandal, which Haroun thought to hush up by dealing summarily with all the actors in it. The knowledge of it might have been confined at least to the immediate circle of the court, but his brutal mode of vindicating the honour of his blood made it public at the time, and a subject for the comment of all future historians. This was the romantic adventure of Jaafer the Barmecide with the Caliph's sister, Abbasah. Haroun's attachment to Jaafer was of so extravagant a character that he could never bear him to be absent from his side, and he even went to the absurd length of having a cloak made with two collars, so that he and Jaafer could wear it at one and the same time. His love for his sister Abbasah was equally unreasonable, and in order to enjoy in unconstrained freedom the society of both his favourites, without breaking through the customary rules of etiquette and so-called morality, he conceived the idea of uniting the couple in marriage. But as he boasted that he was the only Caliph of pure Hashemi descent who had sat upon the throne, and could not brook for a moment the thought that the pure blood of his family should be tainted by admixture with a scion of the Persian race, he extorted a solemn promise from them both that they should never meet except in his presence, and that their union should be a merely nominal one.

Jaafer thus obtained free access to. the harem, and was constantly thrown into the society of the princess; but, knowing the danger of offending the Caliph, he scrupulously avoided taking notice of her. Not so the lady, who was determined that she would not be condemned to a vestal life; besides, the handsome and accomplished young Persian made a profound impression upon her. At length, by bribes and threats, she prevailed upon Jaafer's mother to bring them together, and the old lady contrived to introduce her to Jaafer as a certain slave girl procured by her for him, with the description of whose beauty and accomplishments she had already inflamed his passions. When the morning broke, and Jaafer, recovering from the effects of the wine with which his mother had plied him, recognised Abbasah, he was seized with consternation, and reproached her with having ruined them both.

However, the only thing now was to keep the secret. But their intimacy continued, and Abbasah bore two sons. As soon as they passed out of infancy, the boys were sent to Mecca to be educated, and to be kept out of the way of the Caliph

Jaafer was a favourite with the ladies of the harem, for whom he was always ready to perform kindly offices; but he, unfortunately, omitted to conciliate the proud Zobeideh, Haroun's cousin and favourite wife, and this at length led to the discovery of the secret.

We shall see how all these circumstances combined to lead up to the final catastrophe which involved the house of Barmek in sudden and complete ruin.

Some say that the first sign of the Caliph's change towards them was that he had ordered Jaafer to kill a certain man of the family of Ali 'bn Abu Talib namely, Yahya 'bn Abdallah, the former rebel and that Jaafer hesitated to execute the command, and let the poor fellow escape. His failure to obey orders in this matter was reported to Haroun, who sent for Jaafer, and asked what had become of the man "He is in prison," said Jaafer. "Will you swear it by my life V asked Alraschid, Jaafer saw that he had been betrayed, and confessed that he had allowed him to escape, because he believed him to be innocent. "You have done well," said the Caliph, "I approve entirely of your action in this matter;" but as soon as Jaafer had retired, he added, "God kill me, if I do not kill you." Jaafer had built a house, and expended an immense sum of money upon it. "See," said Alraschid, " he spends this on one house; what must his expenses be altogether!" Their ruin is also attributed to the popularity which their courtesy and generosity had acquired for them, and some say that Fadhl and Jaafer presumed too much on the familiarity which Haroun Alraschid allowed them.

Ismail ibn Yahya, a relative of the Caliph, relates that the first spark of jealousy was kindled in Haroun's breast as he . was out hunting, and Jaafer rode on with his cavalcade without waiting to escort him, while their path lay for miles through Jaafer's well-kept and fertile estates. Thereupon the following conversation occurred :

"Haroun. Look at these Barmecides; we have enriched them and impoverished our own children ! We have let them go on too far.

"Ismail (aside). By Allah! here is something wrong! (Aloud.) Why, your Majesty

"Haroun. I have taken notice of the one and neglected the other. I do not know one of my sons who has an estate comparable with those of the Barmecides, in, the vicinity even of the capital, to say nothing of what they have elsewhere.

"Ismail. O Prince of the Faithful! the sons of Barmek are your slaves, your servants, their estates and all they have are yours.

"Haroun (with a hard, malevolent look). Are the sons of Abbas, then, so poor that they have no wealth and no rank but what the sons of Barmek bestow?"

"Ismail. Prince of the Faithful, look how rich many others of your servants are.

"Haroun. Ismail, I suspect you will repeat what I have said to them, and put them on their guard. Mind, I have mentioned it to no one else, and if it gets wind, I shall know who has betrayed my confidence. Adieu !"

Ismail left him, feeling very perturbed and anxious, and wondered how he could scheme to avert the mischief. The next morning he presented himself to the Caliph, as he was sitting in a palace overlooking the Tigris, to the east of the city (Bagdad), and immediately opposite was the palace of Jaafer, on the western bank. Noticing a large number of horses at the door, Haroun said, "With regard to what we were speaking of yesterday, just see how many troops, slaves, and cavalcades are at Jaafer's door, while no one stays at mine." Ismail said, "I conjure your Majesty, do not let such an idea enter your mind! Jaafer is only your servant, and slave, and minister, and commander of your troops; and if the troops are not to be at his door, at whose, pray, should they be?" When, later on, Jaafer presented himself^ Haroun received him with the greatest cordiality, and at the end of the interview gave him two of his most intelligent private attendants to wait upon him, ostensibly as a special mark of his favour, but really as spies upon his conduct to report every day to the Caliph. Jaafer was delighted, and did not in the least suspect the doom that was hanging over him. Three days later, Ismail called on Jaafer, and, as one of the two slaves was present, was guarded in his remarks, knowing that all he said would come to the Caliph's ears. Some time before this, the Caliph had appointed Jaafer Governor of Khorassan, and had given him an ensign and armies and sumptuous paraphernalia, so Ismail said "Jaafer, you are going into a country extremely prosperous and wealthy. If I were you, I would make over one of my estates here to the son of the Prince of the Faithful." " Ismail," he replied, " your cousin the Caliph lives by my bounty, and it is only through us that his dynasty exists. Is it not enough that I have left him nothing to think about or trouble about, cither for himself or his sons, or his suite, or his subjects, and that I have filled his treasury and heaped up wealth for him, that he must cast eyes upon what I have saved for my son and his posterity after me, that he should be affected with the envy and arrogance of the Beni Hashemi, and should be so covetous V

"For Heaven's sake, sir," said Ismail, " do not think such a thing. The Caliph has not spoken a word to me upon the subject."

"Then what is the meaning of telling me such nonsense?" said he. "By Allah! if he asks me for any of these things, it will be the worse for him."

"After this," says Ismail, "I would neither go near him or Alraschid, for I was suspected by both parties, and said to myself, 'One is the Caliph and the other the Prime Minister; why should I interfere between them. The Barmecides, however, are, I fear, doomed'."

One of Jaafer's mother's servants told the narrator afterwards that the slave repeated every word of the above conversations to Alraschid. The latter, when he read the note containing the particulars, shut himself up for three days, and would see nobody, but passed the time brooding over his schemes of revenge.

Other indications of the gathering storm were not wanting.

Yahya's long services and devotion had placed him upon such terms with the Caliph that he used to enter Alraschid's apartments at any hour. But when the sovereign's mind had once conceived suspicions against the family, the familiarity which he had so long permitted was resented as an impertinence, and regarded as evidence of presumptuous designs.

One day, as Haroun was seated with Bakhtishou, his physician, Yahya entered the apartment and saluted the Caliph. The latter scarcely returned the salutation, and, turning towards Bakhtishou, asked, "Does anyone come into your room without permission?" "No," replied the doctor. "Then why do they come into ours without asking?" said the Caliph. Yahya replied with sorrowful dignity, "I have not just commenced to do this, Prince of the Faithful; but his Majesty himself gave me special orders to enter at any moment, even when he was undressed and in bed. I did not know that the Prince of the Faithful would dislike now what he liked hitherto; but now that I do know it, I will keep whatever place you may assign to me." Haroun was somewhat ashamed of himself, and replied, " I did not mean to hurt your feelings."

Scarcely had he left the room, however, when Haroun ordered the pages in attendance to discon�inue rising on Yahya's entry, as they had been in the habit of doing. The first time that the minister entered the palace and noticed this want of respect, he perceived the cause, and changed colour.

Afterwards the pages kept out of the way when he came in, or affected not to notice him.

Bakhtishou also relates that he once paid the Caliph a visit at the Kasr el Khuld at Bagdad, and saw Haroun looking across the water at Yahya's palace, regarding attentively the crowds that came and went. "God bless Yahya," said he, "for relieving me of business and leaving me time for pleasure." But the next time he came and found the Caliph in the same position, Haroun appeared annoyed, and said, " Yahya seems to have taken all the business in hand without any reference to me. It is he who is the Caliph in reality, not I."

ZobeideJi inflames Haroun's mind.

At length the blow fell. On the fourth day after his retirement, Haroun complained to Zobeideh, his chief wife, of what he felt, and showed her the slave's report. Now there was very ill feeling between Zobeideh and Jaafer, and had been for a long time, so that, when she once found out his secret, she followed him up to the death. "Advise me," said the Caliph, "what to do, for I fear lest the power may go out of my hands if they once take possession of Khorassan."

Said she, "You and the Barmecides are like a drunken man drowning in a great sea. If, however, you have recovered from your drunkenness, and escaped the drowning, I will tell you something much harder for you to bear than what you have heard. But if you are as infatuated with them as ever, I will let you alone." Being pressed for an explanation, she summoned one of her slaves named Arzu, who, she declared, knew all about it. Threatened with death if he remained silent, but promised pardon if he spoke the truth, Arzu related how Jaafer had really married his (Haroun's) sister, Abbasah, who had borne him children, although the Caliph had only allowed a formal ceremony of marriage to be per�formed between the two.

"You see," continued the vindictive woman, "what comes of allowing him to associate with the daughter of one of God's vicegerents, a woman in every way better than he. This comes of bringing fire and faggots together."

This intelligence was a severe blow to Haroun, who possessed, as we have already remarked, all the arrogance of the Hashemi family, and prided himself on his pure Imperial descent. Unmindful of his word, therefore, he ordered Arzu to be beheaded, and, going out from Zobeideh's presence, called for his chief executioner, Mesrur, and said, in a hard-hearted, pitiless tone, "Mesrur, tonight, when it is dark, bring me ten masons and two servants."

The horrible story which follows shows the character of the good Haroun in a somewhat unexpected light.

Death of Jaafer.

Mesrur obeyed the order, and brought at the appointed time the unlucky workmen after dark, when Alraschid rose up and preceded them to the private apartments of his sister, where he found her, and discovered the condition she was in. Without speaking one word to her, he ordered the servants to kill her, shut her up in a large box, and bury her, just as she was, under the floor of her own room. When she was dead, and the body placed in the chest, he locked it, took the key, and made the workmen dig down under the floor till they came to the water. Then he said, "That will do. Let the box down, and put the earth over it." They did so, smoothed the soil, and left the floor as it was before, the Caliph sitting on a chair all the time and looking on. When they had finished, he turned them all out, locked up the door, and came away, taking the key with him. Then he turned to Mesrur and said, "Take these people and give them their hire." Mesrur, knowing what was meant, put them all into sacks, sewed them up with heavy weights inside, and threw them into the Tigris. The Caliph then gave him the key of the house, and told him to keep it until he asked for it, and to go and set up a Turkish tent in the middle of the palace: this he did, and the Caliph entered it before dawn, no one knowing what his intentions were. It was on a Thursday morning, and he sat there holding his Council. Now Thursday was Jaafer's cavalcade day. Presently he said, "Mesrur, do not go far away from me." Then the people came in and saluted him and sat in their respective places, and Jaafer came too, and Haroun received him with the greatest cordiality, and welcomed him, and smiled upon him, and laughed and joked with him, and he sat next the Caliph. Jaafer then brought out the letters he had received from various quarters, and the Caliph listened to them, and decided upon all the petitions and claims, &c., which they contained. Then Jaafer asked to be allowed to leave for Khorassan that day, and the Caliph called for the astrologer, who was sitting near, and asked him what o'clock it was. "Half-past nine o'clock," answered the astrologer, and took the altitude of the sun for him; and Alraschid reckoned it up himself, and looked in his "Nautical Almanack" and said, "To-day, my brother, is an unlucky one for you, and this is an unlucky hour, and I fancy something serious is going to happen in it. However, stay over the Friday prayers, and go when the stars are more propitious; then pass the night in Nahrawan, start early the next morning, and get on the road during the day - that is better than going now," Jaafer would not agree to what the Caliph said, until he had taken the astrolabe in his own hands from the astrologer, and had taken the altitude and reckoned it up for himself. Then he said, "By Allah, you speak the truth, O Prince of the Faithful! I never saw a star burning more fiercely, or a narrower course in the zodiac than today." Then he went home, people of all ranks making much of him as he went. At last he reached his palace, surrounded by troops, transacted his business, and sent the crowds away. But he had hardly retired to his apartments when Alraschid sent Mesrur, saying, "Go to him at once and bring him here, and say to him, 'A letter has just come from Khorassan.' When he comes through the first door, post the soldiers there; at the second, post the slaves. Do not let any of his people come in with him, but bring him in alone, and turn him aside to the Turkish tent I bade you set up yesterday, and when he is inside, behead him, and bring his head to me, and do not acquaint any one of God's creatures with what I have ordered, and do not trouble me again about it. If you disobey my instructions, I will have your head cut off, and brought to me with his. Enough! Begone! Hasten, before he gets word of it from anyone else." Mesrur went off and asked for an interview with Jaafer, who had just taken off his clothes and laid himself down to rest. On entering, he said, "Sir, the Prince of the Faithful has sent me to summon you, he was very pressing and imperious, and I dare not but obey him". "But, Mesrur," said Jaafer, "I have only just come from his presence. What is the matter?". "Letters from Khorassan have just arrived, and you must read them," was the reply. At this Jaafer felt more comfortable, and dressed himself and put on his sword, and went with him. But when he got through the first gate and saw the soldiers, and then through the second and saw the slaves, and then through the third, he turned, and finding none of his own attendants, and seeing that he was alone in the court, he blamed himself for coming out as he did, but it was too late to retrace his steps. Then Mesrur led him to the tent, and made him go inside and sit down as usual; but seeing no one there, he perceived that some mischief was brewing, and said, "Mesrur, my brother, what is the matter?". "I am your brother," answered Mesrur, "and in your house, and you ask me what's the matter. You know well enough, your time has come. The Prince of the Faithful has ordered me to cut off your head and take it to him at once." Jaafer wept a little, and then began to kiss Mesrur's hands and feet, and say, "Oh, my brother! oh, Mesrur! you know how good I have been to you, more than to any of the pages or members of the household, and that I always did what you asked me day and night. You know what position I hold, and what influence I have with the Prince of the Faithful, and how he entrusts me with all his secrets. Perhaps some one may have traduced me to him. I have here two hundred thousand dinars. I will produce them for you immediately, if you will only let me get away from here". "I cannot do it," said Mesrur. "Then," continued the wretched victim, " take me to him, set me before him. Perchance, when his glance falls upon me, he will have some pity, and pardon me". " I cannot do it," was the reply. " I dare not go back to him. I know there is no chance for your life, not the least." But Jaafer persisted. "Oh! wait a little; go back to him and say, 'I have done what you ordered then listen to what he says, and come back and do as you like. But if you do that, and I am saved, I take God and the angels to witness thatI will give you half of what I possess, and make you commander-in-chief of the army. I will give you everything." And he kept on weeping and imploring him, and clinging so to life, that Mesrur said, "Well, it may be managed." So he took off the sword and sword-belt, and set forty black slaves to guard the tent, and went to the Caliph. The latter was sitting down, perspiring with rage, holding a cane in his hand, and digging it into the ground. When he saw Mesrur, he said, "May thy mother be bereaved of thee! What hast thou done in the matter of Jaafer.. "I have done what you ordered". "Where is his head?". "In the tent". "Fetch it me at once". So Mesrur went back, and found Jaafer on his knees praying. He did not give him time to finish his prayer, but drew his sword and cut off his head, and took it by the beard and threw it before the Prince of the Faithful, all dripping as it was with blood. The Caliph heaved a deep sigh, and wept terribly, and dug his stick in the earth after each word that he spoke, and gnashed his teeth on the walking-stick, and addressed the head, saying "Oh, Jaafer, did I not put you on an equality with myself? Oh, Jaafer, how have you requited me? You have neither observed my rights nor kept your pact with me. You have forgotten my bounty; you have not looked to the results of actions. You have not reflected on the vicissitudes of fortune. You have not counted on the revolutions of time and the changes of human circumstances. Oh, Jaafer, you have deceived me in my family; disgraced me before all men. Oh, Jaafer, you have done evil to me and to yourself."

Massacre of the Barmecides.

Haroun then sent to Medina for the two sons of Jaafer (who had been born to the latter by the Caliph's sister, Abbasah), and had them brought in to the palace to him. When he saw them he admired them very much, for they were very handsome lads, and he made them talk, and found they had all the polish of natives of Medina, and all the fluency and eloquence which distinguished his own, the Hashemi, family. Then he asked the eldest, "What is your name, my darling". He said, "El Hassan". He then asked the youngest, "What is yours, my dear?". "El Husein," replied the child. And the Caliph looked at them for a long time, and wept, and then said to them, "Your beauty and innocence touch me. May God show no mercy to him who wrongs you and they had no idea what he intended to do with them. Then he said to Mesrur, "What have you done with the key of the room which I gave you to take care of?". "Here it is, Prince of the Faithful". "Give it me," said Haroun. Then he sent for some slaves and servants, and ordered them to dig a deep pit in the house of Jaafer, and he called Mesrur, and ordered him to kill the two children, and bury them with their mother in that pit. And he was weeping all the time. "So that I thought," says Mesrur, "that he would have had pity on them; but he wiped his eyes, and bade those about him never mention the name of the Barmecides again." After Jaafer's death, El Fadhl was summoned the same night, and imprisoned in one of Alraschid's palaces. Yahya was placed under arrest in his own house; all their property was confiscated, and more than a thousand of the Barmecide family were slain.

El Amraniy, the historian, relates a curious incident illustrating the sudden reverse of the Barmek family. A certain individual said that he happened one day to go into the Treasury office, and casting his eyes upon one of the ledgers, he noticed the entry : "For a dress of honour and decorations for Jaafer, son of Yahya, 400,000 gold dinars". A few days after, he returned, and saw on the same ledger the following item : "Naphtha and shavings for burning the body of Jaafer, son of Yahya, 10 kirats"; a kirat being about the twenty-fourth part of a dinar.

The catastrophe above narrated took place on Haroun's return from Mecca, in the year 803 ; and it is probable that his suspicions had been aroused before he undertook the journey. Indeed, some authors say that he visited the holy cities in order to see the children himself, and judge from their likeness to Jaafer or his sister whether the rumour were true or no. Certain it is that the order for the executions was given by him at Ambar, on his return from Hejaz.

Jaafer's liberality to Abd el Melik ibn Salih, which we have already recorded, when he made so free with the public money and the Caliph's consent to his daughter's marriage, though perhaps thought little of at the time, would be likely to rankle in Haroun's mind, jealous as he always was of the influence of the family of Ali, and would give a keener edge to his wrath when once it was aroused against Jaafer, and would induce him to lend a readier ear to the calumnies against the latter.

But that it was to revenge a fancied indignity, and to wipe out a supposed stain upon his scutcheon, and not for political reasons, that Haroun destroyed his best friends, is proved by the following anecdote, which is related by the Arab chroniclers. When asked by one of his sisters why he had treated the Barmecides in so shocking a manner, he replied, "If this shirt I wear knew the cause, I would tear it to pieces".

Yahya's wife, who had been Haroun's foster-mother, waited upon him when she heard of her husband's arrest, and having, after much trouble, been admitted to his presence, showed him his first tooth and a lock of his hair, which she had preserved as relics of his infancy, and besought him by these tokens of her affection to release her husband. The Caliph tried to buy them from her, but she in a rage threw them down at his feet, saying, "I will make thee a present of them!" and went out without having attained her object.

Yahya, Jaafer's father, and El Fadhl his brother, were also, as we have said, thrown into prison, but not subjected to a very rigorous confinement, being allowed to retain their personal servants and women about them. They remained in prison in comparative comfort until the arrest of Abd el Melik ibn Salih, of which I shall speak later on, when the Caliph treated them all barbarously alike.

When Yahya was told that Alraschid had killed Jaafer, he said, "So will God kill his son". "But," said the messenger, "he has ruined your house too!". " So will God ruin his house," replied the unhappy father. When Alraschid heard of this, he was much distressed for, said he, "I never knew Yahya to say anything that did not turn out true."

The great eminence to which his family had arrived, and the uniform good fortune which they for so long enjoyed, appear often to have made Yahya, who knew his master's fickle temper, tremble lest a reverse should come. The historians relate that one day, while performing the circuit of the Ka'abeh at Mecca (one of the ceremonies of the pilgrimage), he was heard to say "Oh God, if it be Thy pleasure to strip me of the worldly prosperity Thou hast granted to me, to deprive me of my family and my wealth and children, deprive me of them, oh God, but oh, spare me F'adhl my son!" Then he walked away, but after a little he came back and said "Oh Lord, how unworthy is it that one such as I am should make any reserve with Thee! My God! and Fadhl too!"

The Moslem authors look upon this incident as prophetic, for Haroun overthrew the house of Barmek shortly afterwards.

On another occasion he was heard to pray that God would visit his sins on him in this world, and not in the next, and the ruin of his family is regarded as an answer to his prayer.

On one occasion Haroun Alraschid sent Mesrur to El Fadhl in his prison, with orders to force him to make a correct statement of his property, and deliver up any that he might have concealed. In case of his refusal he was to receive two hundred lashes. Mesrur delivered his message to the captive, and advised him "not to prefer his riches to his own safety." El Fadhl replied with dignity "By Allah, I have made no false statements; I would, if the choice were offered, prefer death to even one stroke of a whip, as the Prince of the Faithful well knows.

You yourself know too that we have always maintained our reputation at the expense of our wealth; how then should we now shield our wealth at the expense of our bodies? Execute your orders, if you have any!" Thereupon Mesrur brought some whips out of a napkin which he had with him, and ordered his attendants to inflict on EI Fadhl two hundred stripes. This was done with so much cruelty that the sufferer was nearly dead when the punishment was concluded. Fortunately for him, there was in the prison a man skilled in surgery, and he was at once called in to attend to El Fadhl. After making an examination of his back, he declared that his patient must have made a mistake, and that he could not have received more than fifty lashes. This was, however, only to reassure him, for he afterwards owned that a thousand could not have left worse marks. He then induced him to lie on his back on a reed-mat, trod upon his chest, and afterwards dragged him along the ground on his back till the flesh was torn away in strips. This rough mode of treatment really saved El Fadhl's life, for it restored the circulation, and formed healthy wounds which in due time healed up. El Fadhl, on his recovery, borrowed a thousand dirhems from a friend and offered them to the successful surgeon, who refused to take them. Thinking that he had offered too little, he borrowed another thousand, which the man also refused, saying that he could not accept a fee, however large, for curing the most generous of the generous. As the doctor was really a poor man, this generosity surprised El Fadhl greatly, and he owned that it far exceeded any munificence of his own.

Yahya, the father, died suddenly in prison, in November, 805 A.D., at the age of seventy.

After his death a paper was found upon him containing the following words : "The accuser has gone on before to the tribunal, and the accused shall follow soon. The magistrate will be that just Judge who never errs and needs no witnesses."

This was brought to Haroun, upon whom it had the effect that its writer no doubt intended, of throwing him into a fit of melancholy and abject fear.

El Fadhl, too, died in prison, of cancer of the tongue, three years after his father. It will be remembered that he was the Caliph's foster-brother, and when the latter heard of his death, he said, "My doom is not far from his!" and the event proved that he was right.

The following anecdote, related by Abd er Rahman, a member of the imperial family, who held a high ecclesiastical post at Kufa, exhibits in a touching manner the vicissitudes of this noble and unfortunate family. He says : "Going once to visit my mother on the day of the 'Festival of Sacrifices,' I found her conversing with an elderly woman of respectable appearance, but dressed in shabby clothes. My mother asked me if I knew who her visitor was, and on my replying that I did not, she said 'This is the mother of Jaafer the Barmecide.' I turned towards her, and, saluting her with the utmost respect, said 'Dear madame! what is the strangest thing you have ever witnessed?'. 'My son' she answered, 'there was a time when this feast found me with four hundred slaves in my escort, and yet I thought my son did not do as much for me as he ought; but now the feast has come round again, and all I want is two sheepskins, one to serve as my bed and one for me to wear'. I gave her five hundred dirhems, and she almost died for joy. She afterwards became a constant visitor at our house, till death parted us."

The Barmecides left behind them many who sincerely regretted their sad fate, but it was not often safe to mourn over the victims of the Caliph's wrath. One Ibrahim, who had been a friend of Jaafer, and received great favours at his hands, was so affected at his death, that he took to drinking, and when in his cups would weep for him, and swear to take vengeance upon his murderer. Ibrahim's own son and one of his eunuchs betrayed him to Alraschid, who sent for him, and with a great show of friendship, induced him to drink wine until he became intoxicated. Then the Caliph began himself to lament Jaafer's loss, and said that he would rather have lost his kingdom than such a friend, declaring that he had never tasted sleep since the fatal day. At this Ibrahim shed tears, said that his highness was indeed to blame, and that they should never look on Jaafer's like again. Having thus treacherously wormed his secret out of him, Alraschid rose up with a curse, and in a few moments the imprudent sympathiser with the Barmecides was himself a corpse.

CHAPTER IV.

THE LATTER END.

THE fall of the Barmecide family, and the consequent ruin of all their dependants, made so bad an impression in Bagdad, that Haroun was induced to move his residence from that city to Rakka. Even before this, he had shown a distaste for the capital, and had chosen Kufa for his abode, but the partiality of the inhabitants for the family of Ali made this place disagreeable to him. The reasons alleged by him, and probably the true ones, for this change were the constant outbreaks in Mesopotamia; and the feeling in favour of the Ommiade party which prevailed throughout the northern provinces, made it indeed desirable that he should at least proceed there and overawe the disaffected populations with his presence.

Khorassan, the headquarters of the Persian national party, and the hotbed of Shiah fanaticism, was always one of the most turbulent provinces in the empire. We have seen how, under Abu Moslem, it was able to overturn the Ommiade throne, and it now seemed likely to prove equally fatal to the House of Abbas.

In the year 796, a serious revolt broke out there, headed by one Hamzeh ibn Atrak, who, after pillaging the province of Kohistan and murdering the inhabitants, at length made a stand at Bushenj. The Governor of Herat marched against him with 600 men, but was defeated and slain in the first engagement.

Ali ibn Isa, Governor of Khorassan, then sent his son, El Husein, against the insurgents Avith 10,000 men; but as he would not attack Hamzeh, he was removed, and his brother Isa made general in his place. He was at first unsuccessful, but ultimately succeeded in dispersing the rebel forces and killing a number of them. Hamzeh sought refuge in Kohistan with only forty followers.

Isa took a severe revenge upon those who had taken part in the insurrection, killing more than 30,000 men, and burning all the villages that had favoured the insurgents.

Hamzeh made another attempt to assert himself, but was defeated, wounded in the face, and driven to hide himself in the vineyards near Asfzar; from which he however issued, destroyed the neighbouring villages, and put all the inhabitants to the sword. Among other atrocities, he and his followers attacked a school and killed thirty boys, with their schoolmaster. Tahir ibn Husein, afterwards a famous leader in the civil war that followed Haroun's death, and at that time Lieutenant-Governor of Bushenj, was aroused to action, and inflicted a decisive blow on the rebels. His mode of punishment was a terrible one; he caused two trees to be bent down together, and then tying a man to them, let go, and the trees, flying back to their original position, tore the unfortunate wretch in halves.

Hamzeh himself escaped, and made terms with the Government.

Ali ibn Isa now gave himself up entirely to enriching himself at the expense of the people he was sent to rule over. So flagrant were his acts of injustice, so exorbitant his extortions, and so many and urgent complaints were sent by the inhabitants of Khorassan to Alraschid, that he determined personally to investigate the matter. He accordingly summoned Ali to Rhe, whither he had proceeded with two of his sons, but the Governor brought such magnificent presents for the Caliph, that he was allowed to return to his government loaded with fresh marks of Haroun's confidence and distinction. This total disregard of their interests goaded the people of Khorassan to madness, and the feeling of dislike to their Arab masters soon ripened into one of scarcely concealed hatred.

The massacre of the Barmecide family made their indignation still more intense, and the next rebel leader who appeared upon the scene found the whole population eager to rush to his standard. This was one Rafi ibn Leith, a grandson of Nasr ibn Sujam, who had been slain in Abu Moslem's rebellion.

The incident which led to his revolt was a romantic one, and characteristic of Mohammedan society at the period.

Rafi, a bold and handsome cavalier, had conceived an affection for the wife of a freedman of the Caliph, whose husband had deserted her, and had set up a separate establishment at Bagdad.

Failing to induce the husband to put away the lady, who had considerable property of her own. Rafi contrived to make her pretend to renounce her faith in El Islam, on which the husband divorced her with the formula which makes the dissolution of the marriage tie irrevocable, unless the woman be first married and then divorced by another person.

The Caliph, on hearing of this device, was furious, and ordered Rafi to be imprisoned and beaten, and the lady to be paraded through the streets of Samar- cand with her face blackened, and seated upon a donkey. The first part of the sentence was executed, but the parties concerned managed to avoid the second.

Rafi escaped from prison not long after, and took refuge with Ali ibn Isa; but finding that his wife was still kept away from him, he endeavoured to raise a rebellion.

Insurrection in Persia.

The unpopularity of Ali ibn Isa had made the people ripe for a revolt, and they responded enthusiastically to Rafi's call. Ali sent his son to quell the disturbance, but he was defeated and killed. He next took the field in person, but was also repulsed. On this the movement spread with astonishing rapidity, and the people of Balkh having joined, put Ali's officers to death and sacked his palace.

Defeated at all points, he escaped to Merv, and sent word to the Caliph of what was going on. The insurgents had, however, from the first declared their loyalty to the Caliph, and maintained that their only grievance was against the Viceroy, Ali.

Haroun determined to remove the cause of their discontent; but the deposition, under the circumstances, of a powerful officer who had still money and troops at his command, could only be managed with great precaution.

For this difficult task he selected Herthemah, one of his most trusted generals, and who, being himself a Persian, knew the temper of the people with whom he would have to do.

Sending for this distinguished officer, the Caliph said "I am about to entrust you with a mission which must be kept secret until the proper time : if your very shirt should guess it, destroy it. I hereby appoint you Governor of Khorassan, but should Ali ibn Isa learn it, he would resist you by force of arms. Give out to the troops that you are marching to his aid; but when you reach Merv, arrest him, and compel him to make restitution of all the property which he has extorted from the people". Haroun then made out the order appointing Herthemah to the governorship, and gave him three letters to take with him. One of them was a call on the soldiery to aid the new governor in restoring order; the second was addressed to the people of Khorassan, promising them redress, and exhorting them to loyal obedience; and the third was addressed to Ali ibn Isa himself, and reproaching him in bitter terms for alienating the affection of the people from their sovereign.

Herthemah set out for Merv at the head of twenty thousand men, and Ali, who supposed that he had come to assist him, received him with the customary honours at the gate of the city, Herthemah accompanied Ali to the palace, and when they had dined, showed him the Caliph's letter. The deposed governor yielded at once, was loaded with fetters, and taken day after day to the great mosque of Merv, and compelled to answer the claims of all who demanded restitution at his hands of what he had defrauded them of.

Ali was sent on a camel without a saddle to Rakka, all his relations and friends were arrested, and his property, consisting of about three million pounds sterling in gold and 500 camel-loads of treasure, was confiscated. This sum of course went into the Caliph's treasury, and not back into the pockets of the unfortunate Khorassanites, from whom it had been plundered. Compensation to a certain extent had, however, been made to the inhabitants of Merv, who had addressed to the Court a formal demand for repayment of the sums that Ali had extorted from them.

In the meantime, Rafi's rebellion was continually extending itself, and all Transoxania was included in the movement. Herthemah's troops refused to cross the Oxus until reinforcements came. This news being brought to the Caliph, he determined to take the field in person.

In the year 192 A.H., Alraschid set out from Rakka, to Bagdad, on the way to Khorassan, leaving his son, El Kasim, in charge of the city. On the fifth of the month Shaban he proceeded from Bagdad to Nahrawan, having entrusted the governorship of the ex-capital to another son, El Mamun. On the departure of the Caliph, El Fadhl ibn Sahl, a Persian, said to his master, El Mamun, "You do not know what may happen to Alraschid, and Khorassan is your own province; but your brother Emin has taken precedence of you, and the best that you can hope from him is that he will rob you of your rights of succession, for he is the son of Zobeideh, and his relations are all of the Hashemi clan. Insist, then, that you shall go with the Caliph, This advice El Mamun took, and after some trouble obtained his request".

This Fadhl ibn Sahl was a Persian, and a protégé of the Barmecide family. He was originally a Magian by religion, but had recently become a convert to Islam. He was appointed tutor to El Mamun, and gained a complete ascendency over the young prince.

In the persons of Haroun's two sons, El Mamun and El Emin, the same conflict was to be fought out which had from the very beginning shaken the ranks of El Islam. El Mamun came of a Persian mother, while El Emin, being a son of Haroun's cousin and favourite wife, Zobeideh, was of purely Arab descent.

The question of the succession to the throne was a source of trouble to Haroun, as it had been to his predecessors, and his endeavours to settle the difficulty led to the very consequences which he was so anxious to avoid, and ultimately resulted in the disrupture and final fall of the the empire.

Rivalry between Haroun's Sons.

His two eldest sons were Mohammed El Emin and Abdallah el Mamun. The first of these was not only of unmixed Arab descent, but of the Prophet's own family, the Hashemis, and was, therefore, the natural choice of the Arab orthodox party. He had all the Arab virtues of a noble presence and undoubted personal bravery, but he entirely lacked administrative capacity, and was addicted to luxury and indolent enjoyments. Abdallah el Mamun, on the contrary, was the son of a Persian mother, and, therefore, quite as naturally enlisted the warmest sympathies of the Persian section. He was, moreover, a man of great intellectual capacity and energy.

Haroun Alraschid saw that the two brothers would be forced into a strife after his death, even if they did not themselves seek it, for the Arab party, who had triumphed on the downfall of the Barmecides, would naturally seek to strengthen their position by placing a prince upon the throne whose family traditions were all in strict accord with their own; while, on the other hand, the Persians would endeavour to regain their lost ground by the election of a Caliph with purely Persian proclivities. It was almost inevitable that the old battle between Jew and Gentile, Arab and Persian, would sooner or later be fought out in the names of the two young princes.

To avoid the threatened evil, Haroun resolved to divide the empire into two parts, leaving to Abdallah the Eastern provinces, where the Persian element prevailed, and it was arranged that he should fix his capital at Merv; while Emin had Arabia, Irak, Syria, Egypt, and Northern Arabia where the Arabs predominated. This carried with it the sovereignty of Bagdad, the guardianship of the holy cities, and the spiritual headship of Islam.

In the case of the death of either, the government of the entire empire was to revert to the survivor. It is needless to point out the danger of the last clause, even if the rest of the arrangement had not been so thoroughly imprudent.

When this partition was resolved upon, Haroun took his two sons on a pilgrimage to Mecca, with the view of obtaining from them a solemn ratification of the arrangement on this sacred spot.

In the Ka'abeh itself the two brothers bound themselves to respect the compact made by their father on their behalf, always religiously to observe each other's rights. The document in which these stipulations were embodied was signed by the nobles and great officers of the empire, and was suspended on the door of the Holy House. The man who was affixing it to the door allowed it to fall from his hand upon the ground, and those present did not fail to notice the unlucky omen; although, in truth, it needed no special gift of divination to foresee the result.

How severely the question exercised the mind of Alraschid the following anecdotes will show.

El Kusai, a celebrated writer and savant relates "I presented myself one day before Alraschid, and, after having passed the ordinary compliments, was about to retire, when he ordered me to take a seat. As soon as the great body of the courtiers had departed, leaving only myself and a few of the Caliph's favourite attendants behind, Haroun said, 'Ali, would you like to see Mohammed and Abdallah (Emin and Mamun)?'. 'Prince of the Faithful,' I replied, 'how I long to see them, and how it would please me to behold how God has blessed your Majesty in them'. Therefore he ordered them to be brought before him, and after a short delay the two young princes entered, like two stars illuminating the horizon. Affable but dignified in their demeanour, they advanced, with eyes cast down, into the middle of the room. Alraschid then placed them, Mohammed on his right and Abdallah on his left hand, and requested me to examine them in the Koran and in their other studies. They answered all my questions so readily and so politely, that their father could not conceal his pride and joy, and he dismissed them with a tender embrace. As they left, I noticed the tears running down his cheeks, and he confided to me the fears that he even then entertained of future rivalry and dissension between them."

From the very first, the Arab party sought to influence the Caliph in favour of his son Emin. The poet El Ománi once addressed him upon the subject in so stirring a speech that Haroun said, "Rejoice, O Ománi, for Emin shall surely be my successor!". "Prince of the Faithful," he replied, "I do rejoice, as the herbage rejoices in the rain, as a barren woman rejoices in a son, and as a sick man rejoices in his new-found health. He is a peerless prince, who will defend his honour, and resemble his ancestors". "What," asked Haroun, "do you think of his brother Abdallah?". "Good pasture", said the other, "but not like the saadán" (Saad´´an is a thorny plant said to be extremely fattening for cattle). "God slay this man for an Arab of the desert!" said Haroun; "how well he knows how to urge me on! As for me, by Allah, I find in Abdallah the resolution of El Mansur, the piety of El Mehdi, and the pride of El Hadi; and, by Allah, if I dared to compare him to a fourth (i.e., to the prophet), he would deserve it."

El Asmai also recounts that one day he found the Caliph in a state of extraordinary agitation, at one moment sitting down, at another throwing himself at full length on the couch. As the visitor entered the room, Haroun burst into tears, and murmured

" Let him alone o'er nations rule

Whose mind is firm, whose heart is pure;

Avoid the vacillating fool

Whose thoughts and speech are never sure."

On hearing this, El Asmai knew that the Caliph was intent on some important project, and the fact was soon proved by his sending Mesrur to summon Yahya before him. When the aged minister arrived, Haroun said, "O Abul Fadhl, the prophet of God, on whom be peace, died without a testament, when Islam was yet in the vigour of youth, and the faith was fresh. The Arabs were united, and God had granted security and honour after peril and abasement. Then followed the quarrels for the succession, with the melancholy results you wot of. For me, I intend to regulate my succession, and to let it pass into the hands of one whose character and conduct I approve, and of whose political capacity I am assured. Such an one is Abdallah (Mamun); but the Beni Hashem incline to Mohammed (Emin) to further their own desires, capricious, extravagant, and sensual though they know him to be, and ever subject to the influence of women. Now, if I show my preference for Abdallah, I let loose against me the hatred of the house of Hashim; but if I make Mohammed my only heir, I fear it will bring trouble on the State." After a long deliberation, the compromise to which I have already alluded was decided upon. Zobeideh used all her influence with her husband in favour of her son, and complained bitterly that the Caliph had refused him the military subsidies which he had accorded to his brother, "Who are you," said Alraschid, angrily, "to judge of my acts? Thy son has a peaceable province, while Abdallah has one in a state of war, wherein he has more need of troops and money. I have no fear that Abdallah will harm your son; but I greatly fear that your son will be a source of danger to him."

The state of the Caliph's health when he set out for Khorassan made it necessary for the respective partisans of the two young princes to be on the alert, and the two parties were only awaiting the sovereign's decease to open the game. They had not long to wait.

Alraschid had not proceeded far upon his way when he said to his aide-de-camp, Es Sabah et Tabari, "I do not think you will see me much longer, for you do not know what I feel!" Es Sabah tried to reassure him, but he turned aside to rest beneath a tree, and bade his attendants leave him. Then he uncovered himself, and showed his companion a silk bandage with which he had bound himself about. "I suffer," said he, "terribly; but I dare not let anyone know it, for all about me are spies from one or other of my sons. Mesrur watches me on the part of El Mamun, and Gabriel ibn Bakhtishou on the part of El Emin, and there is not one that does not count my breaths, and measure the time I have to live. To prove this to you, I will call for a horse, and you will see that they will bring me a sorry jade to make me worse; but do not speak of this again". Es Sabah uttered a prayer that the Caliph's life might be spared; but when the horse was brought, it turned out exactly as the Caliph had foretold. The latter merely gave one look at Es Sabah, and mounted without a word.

The End approaches

This anecdote shows plainly how miserable were, after all, the latter days of the great and glorious Alraschid. Intoxicated with selfishness and inordinate pride, he had destroyed his best friends, alienated the affection of his kinsmen, and had instilled fear rather than love into the hearts of his subjects. He knew that his two sons were watching eagerly for his death, ready to rend each other like two dogs over his inheritance; and the mighty Caliph, whose nod could shake an empire, dared not reveal even to his own physician the painful malady from which he was suffering, or ask his attendants for another and a better horse.

During this expedition the Caliph never ceased to complain of his ministers, and, in spite of himself, to show how much he missed the clear counsels and the prompt action of the Barmecides.

After crossing the heights of Hulwan, he halted at Kermanshah and harangued his troops. "There have been troubles," said he, "both in the East and West. The West is now quieted, and I shall know how to quiet the East also, although Yahya and his sons are no more with me to lend me aid."

He was accompanied by his new Vizier, El Fadhl ibn er Rabía.

This man's father had been Vizier to El Mehdi, Haroun's father, and he himself had continued to hold office during the short reign of El Hadi. On Haroun's accession to the throne, he was superseded by Yahya the Barmecide. He had, moreover, been treated with uniform contumely by Yahya and all his family, and had therefore but little cause to love them, On the destruction of the Barmecides, he was appointed Prime Minister, and recognised as the leader of the Arab party.

On his arrival in the neighbourhood of Tus, the Caliph still endeavoured to conceal his weakness and fatigue, but he grew at length so prostrate that he was obliged to be carried by his attendants. His condition made a great commotion among all ranks of his army, perceiving which, Haroun insisted upon attempting to ride, that the soldiers might see him and regain confidence. Having unsuccessfully tried to mount first a charger, then a hack, and afterwards an ass, he cried out, "Take me back, take me back! By Allah, the men are right!"

Gabriel ibn Bakhtishou, his physician, tells us that one day he came in to the Caliph while the latter was at Rakka, and found him quite prostrate, and scarcely able to open his eyes or to move. Being asked the cause of his illness, Haroun related a vision he had had that night, which weighed terribly upon his spirits; he fancied that an arm and hand, which he recognised, but whose owner's name he had forgotten, protruded itself from under his bed, and showed him some red earth, while the voice of some unseen person cried, 'This is the soil of the land in which you will be buried.' Haroun asked the name of the country, and was told, 'Tus.' Gabriel endeavoured to assure him that it was nothing but a dream arising from a disordered stomach, and from too much pondering upon the revolted state of that part of his dominions, and ordered the Caliph rest and recreation, which soon dispelled all recollection of the unpleasant incident.

THE DIVINE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST

BIOGRAPHYCAL UNIVERSAL LIBRARY

THE CREATION IF THE UNIVERSE ACCORDING GENESIS

HAROUN AL-RASCHID. CALIPH OF BAGDAD

763 – 809

PDF: Harun Al Rashid (cristoraul.org) BYH. ST. J. B. PHILBY,